And just like that, the Miami Heat's hopes for a second championship parade down Biscayne Boulevard were put on the ropes by a team nobody thought had a chance. Even this writer thought the Boston Celtics were getting swept. But now we stand on the eve of Game 6, maybe the biggest game in the careers of so many parties, with Boston up 3-2 and Miami seemingly in search of their soul.
This was a Miami team that for a minute looked like they may not be able to beat the Indiana Pacers. There have been multiple times this season where their aura of invincibility seemed pretty non-existent. People have said that Chris Bosh's injury doomed Miami. Injuries to Chris Bosh or not, the Heat have enough to beat Boston. Injuries can't always be an excuse since in 2010 the Celtics made the Finals despite fluid literally squirting out of Paul Pierce's knee before games. Is it Bosh's injury that allowed Boston to get back into this series and put Miami on the brink, or is it something worse?
The Boshtrich is needed since he would make Kevin Garnett work on the defensive end, but you're going to rely on Udonis Haslem to stop KG from scoring. Garnett is 36 years old now, with career averages of 19.3 points per game on 50% shooting and 10.6 rebounds per game. This series he is averaging 21.6 points per game on 49% shooting to go with 10.8 rebounds per. Well thanks Haslem. Missing Bosh sucks for Miami since it takes away an offensive option, but in terms of defense they should have enough to stop an old man like KG from taking them to the woodshed. And will somebody do something about Rajon Rondo?
Rondo's season averages: 11.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 11.7 assists with 45% shooting from the floor and 60% shooting from the foul line. His averages against Miami: 20.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 11 assists with 48% shooting from the floor and 71% at the foul line. His scoring average is inflated thanks to his 44-point explosion in Game 2, but even without that his scoring and shooting percentage are up from his usual. Rondo has no fear no matter who is guarding him and he is tearing Miami apart.
Not having Bosh on the offensive end hurts, but for a team that prides itself in defense the Heat should still have enough to take care of business. Game 4 was decided by two points, Game 5 by four. Not having Bosh around is a bummer, but the Heat eliminated Indiana and went up 2-0 on Boston without him then lost in OT in Game 4 and had Bosh last night but lost another close one. The chances were there and Miami has the MVP of the league and a former Finals MVP. This quick, aggressive, defensive-minded team should be able to pull out victories over the old Celtics. Bosh's strained abdomen is a problem, but that is not why they are staring down elimination tomorrow. Pierce, Allen, and Rondo shot terribly yesterday but still Boston won. This is cause for alarm.
Erik Spoelstra's poor decision making may have cost Miami big time yesterday. Chris Bosh had not played in three weeks due to his strained abdomen, but he came back for Game 5. His minute limit was 25, and in 14 minutes he put up 9 points and 7 boards and was very aggressive on offense, something the Heat sorely needed. Bosh did not play in the fourth quarter. Erik Spoelstra said it would not have been "fair" to put Bosh in that situation. It is one thing to hold a guy back and let him rest in the regular season, but when an All Star scorer nearly has a double-double in 14 minutes and you are in a dog fight with control of the series on the line you can't hold back. Bosh was a step slow on defense since he hasn't played, but you need offense from somebody other than Wade and LeBron and the Boshtrich is the best bet. As I wrote the other day, Bosh is needed to space the floor so Wade and James don't have to work so much and that would have been a huge help in the fourth quarter. Spoelstra didn't see it that way and that may be a big part of the reason Miami is down 3-2.
Another problem is that for all of LeBron's amazing play this series, it stunningly is not enough, and this is not because I'm not a LeBron fan. LeBron is averaging 31.8 points and 10 rebounds per game and shooting 50% from the field. Very good stats, but there's more to it. His regular season assist average was 6.2, but it is at 4 in this series along with 3.4 turnovers per game. That is not good. LeBron only attempted 2.4 three pointers per game during the season, but is attempting 4.4 per game against the C's this series. James shot 36% from deep during the season, but now he's at 27%. He had one of his best free throw shooting seasons at 77% but somehow against Boston it has dropped to 65. And last night Dwyane Wade attempted more shots in the fourth quarter (9) than James (6). LeBron is trying hard, but Miami still needs more out of him.
What is as frustrating as the fact LeBron is attempting so many threes and turning it over almost as often as he assists, is the fact that in the last two games he has only attempted a grand total of four free throws in the two fourth quarters. It is admirable that LeBron wants to get his team involved so much, but he needs to develop a killer instinct. LeBron needs to understand that as the league's MVP and the greatest athlete to ever play the game he has to take over. Nobody else even needs to really touch the ball, just put your head down and drive to the basket. Wade may be his friend and he trusts Wade, but sometimes you have to realize you're the most unstoppable player and you have to put the burden of the team on your shoulders completely.
As good as LeBron has been these playoffs, he needs to be better. He certainly isn't doing anything to shoot down the criticisms of not having the desire to win by saying things like "I think we played good enough to give ourselves a chance to win, and that's all you can ask for." The Heat are a team with everything to prove, and LeBron has to prove he is worthy of being the three-time MVP. Saying they tried hard and that's enough is not enough at all. It is kind of sad and very frustrating that somebody with so much skill still apparently lacks the ferocious, take-no-prisoners attitude you would expect of somebody who wants to win so bad.
Of course it all comes back to Michael Jordan since LeBron was supposed to be on his level. Bulls center Luc Longley was once asked to describe MJ with one word, and he replied, "predator." Jordan didn't just say he wanted to win, he was going to do whatever it takes and would accept nothing less than a title. If the game was tight, Jordan would drive to the hoop and try to get to the foul line. Wade did this same thing in 2006 against Dallas. LeBron needs to do it now. There can be no settling for a good effort, there has to be the MVP taking over.
Erik Spoelstra looked pretty bummed out in his post-game interview. I felt so uncomfortable trying to watch him because he was trying to act like everything was cool and this was no big deal, but they were just empty words. There's plenty of reason to be concerned. The Heat have had problems executing down the stretch for two seasons despite having two of the top players in the world. Their simplistic play designs have screwed them over for two seasons. Bosh wasn't in the fourth quarter last night despite playing well. I like Spoelstra and I think he has done a good job, but if the Heat go home tomorrow, and I don't mean for Game 7, then Coach Spo is gone. I felt awkward watching him try to brush this off as just another mountain for a tough team to climb. I had Bruce Springsteen's Dead Man Walking stuck in my head as I watched it unfold. The blame is going to fall on Spoelstra if they lose, and he will be gone.
Of course Miami is not done and a loss in Game 6 is not a foregone conclusion. Bosh will play more in Game 6 and will be much more capable, most likely giving Boston's defense some fits and opening things up for Wade and James. Also, just because the game will be in Boston it doesn't mean Boston will win. The Celtics have problems closing teams out. They have for ages and there is not a great reason to expect anything different tomorrow. And everybody is talking about how Miami is done and unraveled. If the Heat win tomorrow suddenly there was never any cause for worry. But Boston has exposed flaws in Miami and shown that no matter what happens in the rest of this series, the Heat are very beatable.
As for the Celtics, they remain pretty boring to discuss since they come out, play hard, go home. Their offense is hideous, but luckily they pride themselves on tough defense. Rondo and Garnett are carrying this team and need to play magnificent one more time to make their third NBA Finals in five seasons. You can sense the urgency since the big three all realize that their championship window is just about shut. Rajon Rondo has shown he has all the tools to be the best point guard in the game if he could just shoot as well as he has been consistently. If he improves his jumper and foul shooting he could be unstoppable. He is out-hustling everybody on the court and always seems to be in the perfect spot, like on his incredible tip to Mickael Pietrus for the three.
Doc Rivers is cementing himself as one of the greatest coaches of all time. People have been saying Boston was too old by the third season the big three were together, but they could be back in the Finals. Rivers has his team playing terrific defense and their confidence is through the roof. Just like in 2010 when nobody thought they had a shot against Cleveland, Rivers got his group to play at a level nobody thought they could by that point and they sent the Cavs home. They came so close to winning the championship that year but fell in seven games to the Lakers, failing to close LA out in six. Once again people were saying the Celtics were too old and banged up to make a run to the Finals, but all they have to do is execute for 48 more minutes and they can make it back.
And can we finally accept Paul Pierce is one of the greatest closers of all time? He is never afraid to take the big shots when it is all on the line. He took the ball to the basket to get to the line so he could give Boston the 87-85 lead, then despite being only 5-18 from the floor the Truth hit a wicked three over LeBron to make it 90-86 and send Miami reeling. His laughter afterwards was ridiculous. That play was indicative of the entire series. There is no reason old, hobbled Pierce should be able to make the young and athletic LeBron look silly just like there is no reason for these old Celtics to be making the quick and young Heat look bad, but somehow it is happening.
This has been an entertaining series and it has been full of surprises. Tomorrow night is a huge game since the legacy of both team's big threes are resting on it. The Heat have to execute and LeBron has to play even better than he already has through these playoffs. The Celtics have to prove they can finally close out a team when they need to since if they let Miami back into it tomorrow, there will be no stopping the Heat from going all the way.
Showing posts with label Celtics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celtics. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
The Boshtrich Must Come Back - Game 4 Thoughts
Please play along with me for a minute here. When trying to think of a way to sum up the Miami Heat’s situation right now, this video was the first thing that came to mind. Pretend in this instance that Commissioner Gordon is Erik Spoelstra, since Coach Spo is on his death bed right now. If Miami loses Spo is fired or he's going to suddenly want to spend more time with his family and will step down as coach. When he says, "This evil rises," picture Kevin Garnett in this Gatorade Rain advertisement. When he says, "Batman," just replace that with, "Boshtrich." And since Gordon is talking to Bruce Wayne, just imagine that is Chris Bosh. Let's go.
That about sums up Miami's predicament. The big three were all in this together, then with one strange abdominal strain after a dunk, Chris Bosh was gone. Now after a series with Indiana that was tough, the Boston Celtics are rising and have managed to outplay the Heat in three straight games. If not for some officiating many thought was poor in Game 2, the Celtics could easily be up 3-1 right now. The C's have built up double-digit leads in the last three games but lost them in Games 2 and 4, but they have held home court and go back to Miami with the series at 2-2 and a good shot at stealing the game they need on the road.
The biggest reason for this, much like the evil Bane rising in Gotham since Batman is gone, is because Chris Bosh has been out since the first game of the Pacers series. It should be pretty obvious to everybody that Miami badly needs Bosh, but it is still worth explaining. There was a game in that series with Indiana where up until late only two people other than Dwyane Wade and LeBron James scored the ball. You can't win a championship like that. The Heat can get contributions from guys like Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers, Shane Battier, and even the occasional Mike Miller quality appearance. But in spite of the role players occasionally stepping up, it isn't enough. Too much of Miami's offense is Wade or LeBron take the ball and everybody get back. This was manageable against Indiana since their inexperience gave Miami something to capitalize on. It isn't the same with Boston, and an All Star and proven 20 point per game scorer would help.
Dwyane Wade is struggling thanks to Boston's defense. He goes long stretches where he is ineffective. Miami's offense is very much centered around the big three dominating so with Bosh out and Wade diminished, more pressure falls on LeBron James. He has had a good series but much like Cleveland, LeBron playing well with some scrubs is not going to be enough to beat Boston. If Miami had Chris Bosh this series would be different. It is hard to tell by how much as Boston's defense always keeps them in it and Rajon Rondo causes all sorts of problems, but the late game fails we saw from Miami would be less likely and LeBron and Wade would not have to do as much, and Boston's old legs would have to work harder on defense.
Bosh is mocked constantly and the Heat have been called the big two and a half, but really Bosh is every bit as important to the team as the other guys and is a very good player. Aside from helping double on Dwyane Wade occasionally and maybe picking up LeBron off a screen, Kevin Garnett doesn't have to do a whole lot in this series on the defensive end. Chris Bosh being there instantly puts another offensive threat on the floor and KG has to do some real work. Garnett is getting up there in age, has fought off nagging injuries for a while, and has to do so much on the offensive end. If he had to guard Bosh it would wear him out. Bosh's jump shooting ability helps stretch the floor and would open up more holes for Wade. Bosh's offensive skill set would save Miami instantly since just having him out there opens the floor more and makes the Heat tougher to guard. If Bosh were there, think of how different those poorly executed final possessions Miami had in the fourth quarter and overtime would have been last night.
To end the fourth, LeBron got the ball, drove into a crowd of three people, and smartly passed the ball. Despite the title of this video, LeBron did not choke. If that were Bosh, a far more capable offensive player than Haslem, nobody could have a problem with that, but the Celtics just played good defense so the play was doomed. On ESPN somebody was saying LeBron should have given it to Chalmers. How would he even see Chalmers? If anything Haslem could have tried to get it to Chalmers but whatever. It was a bad play, and in overtime LeBron fouled out and the Heat's final possession was just as bad. Watch:
Aside from Chalmers trying to get open, there was no play other than something to the effect of "get back and let Dwyane shoot." An iso for a star at the end of the game isn't always a bad move or anything, but that seems to be what Miami does every time and they fail miserably. Two thoughts hit me while watching that play. First, if Bosh were there it is likely there would have been a much better design. To finish out the discussion on the importance of the Boshtrich, Chris Bosh is a terrific offensive player and for a team that seems to have so many problems executing on offense at the end of games it would save their asses and make them far less predictable if he were out there.
Second, why was Mike Miller on the bench? James Jones was out there so Miller should have been too so you'd have more three point shooters, but yet the play was pretty clearly "maybe get the ball to Mario Chalmers but if not screw it Dwyane will handle it." The other guys weren't even moving on the floor as decoys. That is Erik Spoelstra's fault. Jon Barry said last night after the game this is a recurring problem with the Heat. They can't execute at the end of games. It isn't always that somebody is choking, Spoelstra needs to design better plays than "maybe set a screen here or there then just stand back and let Wade or LBJ go to work." It has been two seasons and they still have problems executing at the end of games. Bosh being there is another option, but the Heat still have fundamental problems in design.
After last night's loss, the Heat are now complaining about the referees due to LeBron fouling out. Yes, the Heat are complaining about the referees. In Game 2, Miami took 47 free throws to Boston's 29. Boston has attempted more free throws than Miami in only one of the four games so far, taking 26 to Miami's 20 in Game 3. In Game 2, the game many said was horribly officiated, Miami was called for 18 fouls while Boston was called for 33. Miami hasn't exactly been dumped on by the refs or anything.
While LeBron fouling out was strange, Paul Pierce fouled out for the second time this series last night. It isn't like only Miami was being dumped on, but if you talk to former coach and current Heat president Pat Riley you'll hear a much different tale.
"It was a typical night in the Boston Garden," Riles was quoted in Mark Spears' piece on the Heat being upset about the refs. Keep in mind, when Boston was miffed about the refs Miami had just taken 18 more free throws and had been called for 15 fewer fouls. Last night Boston was called for 30 fouls to Miami's 28, and Boston took 20 free throws to Miami's 24. LeBron James attempted the most free throws out of anybody in the game with 8. The refs really must have had it out for Miami then. Was it the refs being mean, or was it Miami getting flustered?
The Heat need to worry less about the refs and more about the fact that in three straight games Boston has built up leads of 15 or more through devastating execution. Garnett continues to turn the clock back, averaging 19.5 points and 10.8 rebounds this post-season. His career averages are 19.3 and 10.6. That is insane. Even a good defender like Udonis Haslem hasn't been able to stop KG from getting his numbers and having a double-double in three of the four games so far. Miami also needs to find a way to slow Rajon Rondo since he is shredding them. Rondo has been scoring well this series, and he has never been known for his ability to put the ball in the basket. This is a Celtics team riddled with injuries, missing one of its best defensive guards, and thought far too old to compete. But somehow they're pushing Miami around now.
Of course Miami isn't the only team that needs to figure things out. Boston has blown big leads in two games now, dropping Game 2 because of this. Boston's offense can be downright dreadful on many possessions, and after great execution in the first half they find themselves struggling in the second. Boston also needs to play smarter. Paul Pierce fouled out last night after two plays involving Shane Battier. Battier took a charge on a fast break to give him five fouls. The Heat led the league in taking charges during the season and Pierce was running slow on the break so he should have seen this coming. Then he steamrolled Battier a few minutes later, shoving him in the back and getting called for the foul. It was really bad. Almost as bad as Ray Allen foolishly trying to put up a lay up over Dwyane Wade the other night and getting stuffed. Boston needs to slow down and execute like the Spurs of old since if they want to speed things up Miami will run wild on them. This is how they blow leads and get made to look like silly old men.
But despite the blown leads and silly mistakes, what seemed like the obvious end of the Celtics has now become an intense series. Despite their age and having to battle nagging injuries, the C's have been outplaying Miami and seem ready to fight for the series lead in Game 5. Bosh may return for that game, and if he does it will be interesting to see if he's close to full strength. If he isn't healthy then he will most likely be ineffective and nothing much changes for Boston. If he is healthy then the Celtics have to re-work their entire defensive scheme. If not then it may be more of the same, with Boston putting Miami on the ropes.
That about sums up Miami's predicament. The big three were all in this together, then with one strange abdominal strain after a dunk, Chris Bosh was gone. Now after a series with Indiana that was tough, the Boston Celtics are rising and have managed to outplay the Heat in three straight games. If not for some officiating many thought was poor in Game 2, the Celtics could easily be up 3-1 right now. The C's have built up double-digit leads in the last three games but lost them in Games 2 and 4, but they have held home court and go back to Miami with the series at 2-2 and a good shot at stealing the game they need on the road.
The biggest reason for this, much like the evil Bane rising in Gotham since Batman is gone, is because Chris Bosh has been out since the first game of the Pacers series. It should be pretty obvious to everybody that Miami badly needs Bosh, but it is still worth explaining. There was a game in that series with Indiana where up until late only two people other than Dwyane Wade and LeBron James scored the ball. You can't win a championship like that. The Heat can get contributions from guys like Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers, Shane Battier, and even the occasional Mike Miller quality appearance. But in spite of the role players occasionally stepping up, it isn't enough. Too much of Miami's offense is Wade or LeBron take the ball and everybody get back. This was manageable against Indiana since their inexperience gave Miami something to capitalize on. It isn't the same with Boston, and an All Star and proven 20 point per game scorer would help.
Dwyane Wade is struggling thanks to Boston's defense. He goes long stretches where he is ineffective. Miami's offense is very much centered around the big three dominating so with Bosh out and Wade diminished, more pressure falls on LeBron James. He has had a good series but much like Cleveland, LeBron playing well with some scrubs is not going to be enough to beat Boston. If Miami had Chris Bosh this series would be different. It is hard to tell by how much as Boston's defense always keeps them in it and Rajon Rondo causes all sorts of problems, but the late game fails we saw from Miami would be less likely and LeBron and Wade would not have to do as much, and Boston's old legs would have to work harder on defense.
Bosh is mocked constantly and the Heat have been called the big two and a half, but really Bosh is every bit as important to the team as the other guys and is a very good player. Aside from helping double on Dwyane Wade occasionally and maybe picking up LeBron off a screen, Kevin Garnett doesn't have to do a whole lot in this series on the defensive end. Chris Bosh being there instantly puts another offensive threat on the floor and KG has to do some real work. Garnett is getting up there in age, has fought off nagging injuries for a while, and has to do so much on the offensive end. If he had to guard Bosh it would wear him out. Bosh's jump shooting ability helps stretch the floor and would open up more holes for Wade. Bosh's offensive skill set would save Miami instantly since just having him out there opens the floor more and makes the Heat tougher to guard. If Bosh were there, think of how different those poorly executed final possessions Miami had in the fourth quarter and overtime would have been last night.
To end the fourth, LeBron got the ball, drove into a crowd of three people, and smartly passed the ball. Despite the title of this video, LeBron did not choke. If that were Bosh, a far more capable offensive player than Haslem, nobody could have a problem with that, but the Celtics just played good defense so the play was doomed. On ESPN somebody was saying LeBron should have given it to Chalmers. How would he even see Chalmers? If anything Haslem could have tried to get it to Chalmers but whatever. It was a bad play, and in overtime LeBron fouled out and the Heat's final possession was just as bad. Watch:
Aside from Chalmers trying to get open, there was no play other than something to the effect of "get back and let Dwyane shoot." An iso for a star at the end of the game isn't always a bad move or anything, but that seems to be what Miami does every time and they fail miserably. Two thoughts hit me while watching that play. First, if Bosh were there it is likely there would have been a much better design. To finish out the discussion on the importance of the Boshtrich, Chris Bosh is a terrific offensive player and for a team that seems to have so many problems executing on offense at the end of games it would save their asses and make them far less predictable if he were out there.
Second, why was Mike Miller on the bench? James Jones was out there so Miller should have been too so you'd have more three point shooters, but yet the play was pretty clearly "maybe get the ball to Mario Chalmers but if not screw it Dwyane will handle it." The other guys weren't even moving on the floor as decoys. That is Erik Spoelstra's fault. Jon Barry said last night after the game this is a recurring problem with the Heat. They can't execute at the end of games. It isn't always that somebody is choking, Spoelstra needs to design better plays than "maybe set a screen here or there then just stand back and let Wade or LBJ go to work." It has been two seasons and they still have problems executing at the end of games. Bosh being there is another option, but the Heat still have fundamental problems in design.
After last night's loss, the Heat are now complaining about the referees due to LeBron fouling out. Yes, the Heat are complaining about the referees. In Game 2, Miami took 47 free throws to Boston's 29. Boston has attempted more free throws than Miami in only one of the four games so far, taking 26 to Miami's 20 in Game 3. In Game 2, the game many said was horribly officiated, Miami was called for 18 fouls while Boston was called for 33. Miami hasn't exactly been dumped on by the refs or anything.
While LeBron fouling out was strange, Paul Pierce fouled out for the second time this series last night. It isn't like only Miami was being dumped on, but if you talk to former coach and current Heat president Pat Riley you'll hear a much different tale.
"It was a typical night in the Boston Garden," Riles was quoted in Mark Spears' piece on the Heat being upset about the refs. Keep in mind, when Boston was miffed about the refs Miami had just taken 18 more free throws and had been called for 15 fewer fouls. Last night Boston was called for 30 fouls to Miami's 28, and Boston took 20 free throws to Miami's 24. LeBron James attempted the most free throws out of anybody in the game with 8. The refs really must have had it out for Miami then. Was it the refs being mean, or was it Miami getting flustered?
The Heat need to worry less about the refs and more about the fact that in three straight games Boston has built up leads of 15 or more through devastating execution. Garnett continues to turn the clock back, averaging 19.5 points and 10.8 rebounds this post-season. His career averages are 19.3 and 10.6. That is insane. Even a good defender like Udonis Haslem hasn't been able to stop KG from getting his numbers and having a double-double in three of the four games so far. Miami also needs to find a way to slow Rajon Rondo since he is shredding them. Rondo has been scoring well this series, and he has never been known for his ability to put the ball in the basket. This is a Celtics team riddled with injuries, missing one of its best defensive guards, and thought far too old to compete. But somehow they're pushing Miami around now.
Of course Miami isn't the only team that needs to figure things out. Boston has blown big leads in two games now, dropping Game 2 because of this. Boston's offense can be downright dreadful on many possessions, and after great execution in the first half they find themselves struggling in the second. Boston also needs to play smarter. Paul Pierce fouled out last night after two plays involving Shane Battier. Battier took a charge on a fast break to give him five fouls. The Heat led the league in taking charges during the season and Pierce was running slow on the break so he should have seen this coming. Then he steamrolled Battier a few minutes later, shoving him in the back and getting called for the foul. It was really bad. Almost as bad as Ray Allen foolishly trying to put up a lay up over Dwyane Wade the other night and getting stuffed. Boston needs to slow down and execute like the Spurs of old since if they want to speed things up Miami will run wild on them. This is how they blow leads and get made to look like silly old men.
But despite the blown leads and silly mistakes, what seemed like the obvious end of the Celtics has now become an intense series. Despite their age and having to battle nagging injuries, the C's have been outplaying Miami and seem ready to fight for the series lead in Game 5. Bosh may return for that game, and if he does it will be interesting to see if he's close to full strength. If he isn't healthy then he will most likely be ineffective and nothing much changes for Boston. If he is healthy then the Celtics have to re-work their entire defensive scheme. If not then it may be more of the same, with Boston putting Miami on the ropes.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Is Dwyane Wade a Dirty Player? Does the NBA Care?
Whenever blood gets boiling in the NBA, one player will try to insult another by insinuating they are a dirty player. Last year, after the intense Pacers-Bulls match up in the playoffs, Danny Granger of the Pacers said Chicago center Joakim Noah is a dirty player. This was a ridiculous accusation made out of frustration since Noah is a high-energy player and hustles, and the Pacers were the only team doling out hard fouls and physical play in that series. But still, when hit with the anger of getting eliminated in the playoffs Granger resorted to the accusation that somebody bends and/or breaks the rules. Amare Stoudemire did this in 2007 against the Spurs when the Suns were down as well. Those types of accusations come out a lot when players or fans are upset and many times there is nothing to it, but other times it is worth investigating.
Dirty players are like what Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen would be if they were on the basketball court. They throw out cheap shots oftentimes which could legitimately injure somebody then throw their hands up and walk away like they did nothing. Sometimes they are subtle plays, sometimes not so much and you get hit with a flagrant. If it is subtle then it is like a wrestling manager distracting the ref, slipping their wrestler a pair of brass knuckles, the wrestler hitting his opponent with them, then the ref suddenly turning around to see the opponent down as the other wrestler acts like nothing happened. There are all sorts of guys like that in the league these days. You hear it mentioned most with Kevin Garnett.
Garnett is a psycho on the court. His once unbelievable play has declined with age, and up until recently when he's been able to back up his trash talk with stellar performances, he resorted to cheap shots and dirty play to get his message across. Remember KG undercutting Channing Frye while hitting him in the nuts? Garnett's bark had become much bigger than his bite (his game) so there was a while there where he just changed his bite to be cheap shots and bully tactics. He still throws elbows after the whistle and stuff.
Ron Artest/Metta World Peace's elbow on James Harden is the prime example of a dirty play since he nearly killed Harden then acted like he was just flexing.
Kobe Bryant is a dirty player. This isn't because I love Michael Jordan. Kobe is a dirty player. Remember he got suspended twice in the 2006-07 season for first punching Manu Ginobili after a shot, then doing it again to Marko Jaric? His teammate Derek Fisher is also dirty. Here's a neat clip of their dirty antics in the playoffs against Houston a few years back. Somehow Ron Artest got ejected for Kobe elbowing him in the throat and pretending like he did no such thing. Kobe has all sorts of cheap little elbow and knee plays. You don't agree? Watch:
Of course the dirtiest of all players is Bruce Bowen. He used to undercut people all the time, throw drop kicks, knee people in the balls, etc. You didn't know? Watch:
But now we have an entirely new issue here. Is Dwyane Wade a dirty player? Does the NBA's superstar-pampering system enable this? In my last post I touched on this briefly. After last night's Eastern Conference Finals victory over the Celtics I feel the need to address it again. And no, this is not just because Wade is on Miami. The first basketball player whose jersey and shoes I ever owned was Wade. I have always respected him and been a fan, but I've seen enough in the last year to turn sour on him and think his little slap on Rondo and kick at Kevin Garnett were not just heat of battle coincidences.
Last year. Playoffs. Heat-Celtics. Boston is up 10. Wade loses the ball and drags Rajon Rondo down, dislocating Rondo's elbow and sabotaging the series for the C's:
This year. All Star Game (!!!??!?!). Wade smacks Kobe in the face, breaking his nose and giving him a concussion. A flagrant foul in the ASG? Are you kidding me? Nope:
This year. Regular season against the Bulls. Wade shoves Rip Hamilton for no real reason, gets called for a flagrant:
This year. Playoffs. Heat-Knicks. Wade throws Mike Bibby's shoe into the front row. Not quite as bad as his fouls, but still a dick move:
This year. Playoffs. Heat-Pacers. Wade gets upset he didn't get a foul call so he hockey checks Darren Collison, gets called for a flagrant:
Now this brings us to last night. The Celtics were trying to even their series with Miami in Game 2, but they blew a big lead and couldn't play defense in the third quarter. Even though Miami went to the foul line a ton - LeBron almost as many times as the entire Celtics team - Boston could have won that game but they couldn't execute. Of course it didn't help Wade got dirty in overtime.
First up is Wade's defense against Rondo which somehow resulted in no foul call:
After the flagrant on Kobe in the All Star game and the other cheap fouls Wade has resorted to in recent history I tend to believe this wasn't an accident and he was trying to smack Rondo in the face. I'm sorry but after you jacked up the guy's arm a year ago and have been building a history of bad fouls lately I don't find it coincidence that you smacked a guy who was lighting up your team right in the face.
Then he came down and had this dagger and-one over Kevin Garnett. But he was also throwing a dropkick:
Wade leads with the leg right into KG's knee. When they show the replay again at about the 1:35 mark in that video Jeff Van Gundy even comments that could have been an offensive foul. Yeah buddy. Wade has started to develop a nice little list of questionable play lately. An All Star game flagrant, the flagrant on Rip, the flagrant on Collison, and the other cheap plays. Yet he hasn't faced any kind of real punishment for this stuff.
Kobe was suspended for those shots at Manu and Jaric, but that is the most I've ever heard about a superstar being punished for dirty play. Garnett has never faced any repercussions for his nonsense, and with Wade being on the marketing juggernaut of Miami he damn sure won't face any sort of punishment. The NBA protects the superstars no matter what, and we're seeing clear evidence of it now.
Robert Horry was suspended for his check on Steve Nash. Wade only received a flagrant 1 for his check on Collison. A flagrant 2 is an automatic ejection and you get suspended. Horry's check on Nash was harder, but still look at the rule. Wade's check was unsportsmanlike, unnecessary, and excessive. That was clearly a flagrant 2. Tyson Chandler's illegal screen on LeBron was originally deemed a flagrant 2 but then lowered to a flagrant 1. A flagrant 2 is insane since that was a clear flop from LBJ, but a flagrant 1 still isn't right since it was nothing more than an illegal screen. Wade could have really hurt Collison, it wasn't even remotely a play on the ball or anything, but still it was on the level of the Chandler play? That does not seem right. Even his shove on Hamilton was totally uncalled for and could be seen as a flagrant 2.
Why bother calling Wade for smacking Rondo in the face or kicking Garnett? The league will get more money out of the Heat being in the Finals anyways. Wade is a superstar, unlike Horry and Chandler, so he would never be suspended for that shot on Collison and he would never be reprimanded for his cheap plays in overtime. This goes for all superstars of course as Kobe's suspensions were an aberration when it comes to how the NBA treats the money makers.
Accusing somebody of playing dirty is pretty serious and oftentimes makes you seem like a crybaby, but it is worth pointing out Dwyane Wade has found himself in some questionable situations in the last year, starting with Rondo's injury. The legend has been growing since then, and last night on nearly back-to-back possessions Wade added to it big time. For some reason people keep getting hit when they are around him. And since it is widely known the NBA coddles superstars, it is no surprise they haven't hit Wade with a flagrant 2 or a suspension for anything he's done.
Dirty players are like what Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen would be if they were on the basketball court. They throw out cheap shots oftentimes which could legitimately injure somebody then throw their hands up and walk away like they did nothing. Sometimes they are subtle plays, sometimes not so much and you get hit with a flagrant. If it is subtle then it is like a wrestling manager distracting the ref, slipping their wrestler a pair of brass knuckles, the wrestler hitting his opponent with them, then the ref suddenly turning around to see the opponent down as the other wrestler acts like nothing happened. There are all sorts of guys like that in the league these days. You hear it mentioned most with Kevin Garnett.
Garnett is a psycho on the court. His once unbelievable play has declined with age, and up until recently when he's been able to back up his trash talk with stellar performances, he resorted to cheap shots and dirty play to get his message across. Remember KG undercutting Channing Frye while hitting him in the nuts? Garnett's bark had become much bigger than his bite (his game) so there was a while there where he just changed his bite to be cheap shots and bully tactics. He still throws elbows after the whistle and stuff.
Ron Artest/Metta World Peace's elbow on James Harden is the prime example of a dirty play since he nearly killed Harden then acted like he was just flexing.
Kobe Bryant is a dirty player. This isn't because I love Michael Jordan. Kobe is a dirty player. Remember he got suspended twice in the 2006-07 season for first punching Manu Ginobili after a shot, then doing it again to Marko Jaric? His teammate Derek Fisher is also dirty. Here's a neat clip of their dirty antics in the playoffs against Houston a few years back. Somehow Ron Artest got ejected for Kobe elbowing him in the throat and pretending like he did no such thing. Kobe has all sorts of cheap little elbow and knee plays. You don't agree? Watch:
Of course the dirtiest of all players is Bruce Bowen. He used to undercut people all the time, throw drop kicks, knee people in the balls, etc. You didn't know? Watch:
But now we have an entirely new issue here. Is Dwyane Wade a dirty player? Does the NBA's superstar-pampering system enable this? In my last post I touched on this briefly. After last night's Eastern Conference Finals victory over the Celtics I feel the need to address it again. And no, this is not just because Wade is on Miami. The first basketball player whose jersey and shoes I ever owned was Wade. I have always respected him and been a fan, but I've seen enough in the last year to turn sour on him and think his little slap on Rondo and kick at Kevin Garnett were not just heat of battle coincidences.
Last year. Playoffs. Heat-Celtics. Boston is up 10. Wade loses the ball and drags Rajon Rondo down, dislocating Rondo's elbow and sabotaging the series for the C's:
This year. All Star Game (!!!??!?!). Wade smacks Kobe in the face, breaking his nose and giving him a concussion. A flagrant foul in the ASG? Are you kidding me? Nope:
This year. Regular season against the Bulls. Wade shoves Rip Hamilton for no real reason, gets called for a flagrant:
This year. Playoffs. Heat-Knicks. Wade throws Mike Bibby's shoe into the front row. Not quite as bad as his fouls, but still a dick move:
This year. Playoffs. Heat-Pacers. Wade gets upset he didn't get a foul call so he hockey checks Darren Collison, gets called for a flagrant:
Now this brings us to last night. The Celtics were trying to even their series with Miami in Game 2, but they blew a big lead and couldn't play defense in the third quarter. Even though Miami went to the foul line a ton - LeBron almost as many times as the entire Celtics team - Boston could have won that game but they couldn't execute. Of course it didn't help Wade got dirty in overtime.
First up is Wade's defense against Rondo which somehow resulted in no foul call:
After the flagrant on Kobe in the All Star game and the other cheap fouls Wade has resorted to in recent history I tend to believe this wasn't an accident and he was trying to smack Rondo in the face. I'm sorry but after you jacked up the guy's arm a year ago and have been building a history of bad fouls lately I don't find it coincidence that you smacked a guy who was lighting up your team right in the face.
Then he came down and had this dagger and-one over Kevin Garnett. But he was also throwing a dropkick:
Wade leads with the leg right into KG's knee. When they show the replay again at about the 1:35 mark in that video Jeff Van Gundy even comments that could have been an offensive foul. Yeah buddy. Wade has started to develop a nice little list of questionable play lately. An All Star game flagrant, the flagrant on Rip, the flagrant on Collison, and the other cheap plays. Yet he hasn't faced any kind of real punishment for this stuff.
Kobe was suspended for those shots at Manu and Jaric, but that is the most I've ever heard about a superstar being punished for dirty play. Garnett has never faced any repercussions for his nonsense, and with Wade being on the marketing juggernaut of Miami he damn sure won't face any sort of punishment. The NBA protects the superstars no matter what, and we're seeing clear evidence of it now.
Robert Horry was suspended for his check on Steve Nash. Wade only received a flagrant 1 for his check on Collison. A flagrant 2 is an automatic ejection and you get suspended. Horry's check on Nash was harder, but still look at the rule. Wade's check was unsportsmanlike, unnecessary, and excessive. That was clearly a flagrant 2. Tyson Chandler's illegal screen on LeBron was originally deemed a flagrant 2 but then lowered to a flagrant 1. A flagrant 2 is insane since that was a clear flop from LBJ, but a flagrant 1 still isn't right since it was nothing more than an illegal screen. Wade could have really hurt Collison, it wasn't even remotely a play on the ball or anything, but still it was on the level of the Chandler play? That does not seem right. Even his shove on Hamilton was totally uncalled for and could be seen as a flagrant 2.
Why bother calling Wade for smacking Rondo in the face or kicking Garnett? The league will get more money out of the Heat being in the Finals anyways. Wade is a superstar, unlike Horry and Chandler, so he would never be suspended for that shot on Collison and he would never be reprimanded for his cheap plays in overtime. This goes for all superstars of course as Kobe's suspensions were an aberration when it comes to how the NBA treats the money makers.
Accusing somebody of playing dirty is pretty serious and oftentimes makes you seem like a crybaby, but it is worth pointing out Dwyane Wade has found himself in some questionable situations in the last year, starting with Rondo's injury. The legend has been growing since then, and last night on nearly back-to-back possessions Wade added to it big time. For some reason people keep getting hit when they are around him. And since it is widely known the NBA coddles superstars, it is no surprise they haven't hit Wade with a flagrant 2 or a suspension for anything he's done.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The Rights and Wrongs in the Sporting World 2: The "I Loathe Miami" Edition
This is a good way to start off this post, even if I don't talk about their late-game fails
The Right:
1. Chan Sung Jung – The Korean Zombie has put himself in the title hunt in the UFC’s featherweight division following a wild victory over Dustin Poirier on Fuel the other night. Zombie seemed to get winded by the time the fourth round came, but he still locked in a d’arce choke and finished Poirier off. It was a great fight with exciting stand-up and grappling, including a wild moment when Poirier took Zombie down, only for Zombie to roll right into a full mount. As far as shows on networks most people don’t get go, this was an exciting main event and Zombie has proven he can deliver an exciting fight every time. His fights against Leonard Garcia, especially the second one in which he submitted Garcia with the twister, were both entertaining and his seven second knockout of Mark Hominick was wild as well. Of course Jung wouldn’t stand much of a chance against featherweight king Jose Aldo, but really would anybody? Jung-Aldo would be an exciting fight and if you through that on the next UFC on Fox and build it up right it can be a good ratings boost and people would love it.
2. Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan – Two of the greatest power forwards of all time, both in the twilight of their careers, have turned the clock back as of late. I have written about how Duncan is amazing here before, but after reading Chris Ballard’s piece on Timmy for Sports Illustrated I like him even more. The best statistic mentioned in the article is the .702 winning percentage the Spurs have had with Duncan, a percentage unmatched in the last 15 years by any other team in any sport. Even in NBA history there has not been such a run. Ballard touches on this for Duncan but it goes for Garnett as well, as both men played fewer minutes per game this season, but if you look at their per 36 minute stats their numbers are right in line with their stellar career marks. Duncan absolutely shit on Blake Griffin and the Clippers in Game 1 of their second round series, hanging 26 and 10 with 2 blocks and 2 steals on them. Garnett is averaging 20 and 11 (I may have done that math wrong) through the nine games Boston has played thus far. On the third page of that Ballard article he points out how Duncan loathes KG, but it is nice to see the rivals both stepping up their game.
3. CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan – I will not be watching WWE’s Over the Limit pay per view this Sunday as it is expensive and the card doesn’t appeal to me, but Punk and Bryan are going to put on an awesome WWE Championship match. Bryan is the best technical wrestler on the face of the planet, winning Wrestling Observer’s award for that for the last seven years, and Punk is high up on the list. WWE markets everything around John Cena and he’ll have a stupid match with Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis, but for the Internet Wrestling Community this WWE title match is going to be the true selling point. They’ve worked matches before, in Ring of Honor and the WWE on Raw, but to have the two best guys working a match for the biggest title in the biggest wrestling company on pay per view is what it’s all about. I will definitely be ordering a replay of the show for Bryan-Punk alone.
4. The Return of Paul E. – WWE brought back Brock Lesnar, jobbed him to John Cena, had him “break” Triple H’s arm the next night on Raw, then the next week Lesnar has his legal council announce he had quit the company. Who would be Lesnar’s legal council? None other than the greatest mind in the history of the business, Paul Heyman. Heyman was the head of the now-defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling in the ‘90s. ECW’s hardcore, edgy style was ripped off by the WWE for their “Attitude Era” and WCW mastermind Eric Bischoff hired guys like Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero away from Heyman. He wasn’t a good enough businessman to keep ECW going, but he was brilliant at booking and as an on-screen character. Jim Ross loved doing commentary with him, and as Brock Lesnar’s manager and General Manager of SmackDown he was so entertaining. His mic skills are better than most wrestler’s, and his shoot promo on Vince McMahon is one of the greatest promos in wrestling history. I haven’t watched SmackDown regularly since Heyman was its head booker in 2002-3. He made guys like Kurt Angle, Edge, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, and Chavo Guerrero into gods. I will never forget the awesome fatal four-way between Angle, Benoit, Eddie, and Edge that took place on SmackDown. Heyman always knew what matches would work, and if you gave him a microphone he could get anything over. I don’t like the idea of hiring Lesnar to be this big star then holding him off TV so they can save his 24 remaining dates for the build to WrestleMania next year, but if Heyman is going to be Brock’s mouthpiece and handle this then I’m interested.
The Wrong:
1. Dwyane Wade Part 1 – In Game 2 of the Heatles’ second round series with the Indiana Pacers, Wade committed a flagrant foul on Darren Collison. Now, in the NBA there is a Flagrant 1 and a Flagrant 2. A flagrant 1 results in a technical foul, the team of the player who was fouled getting possession, and a $35,000 fine. A flagrant 2 is all of that, but the player who committed the foul is ejected and can be suspended. Here is the rule on how to define a 1 or a 2. Wade’s foul on Collison was only a flagrant 1, despite being unnecessary and totally excessive as well as unsportsmanlike. Wade hockey checked Collison, but somehow just got slapped with a flagrant 1. A few years back, Shaq at least made a play on the ball when he killed Rodney Stuckey and was hit with a flagrant 2 and ejected. Wade was pissed because he didn’t get a call when he didn’t deserve to get a call, and then he could have really hurt Darren Collison with that shove. There wasn’t even a play on the ball, nothing of the sort. That’s a punk ass foul and you can’t tell me that’s just a flagrant 1, like Tyson Chandler’s screen on LeBron (LBJ totally flopped) in the first round. This is ridiculous. Not to mention, this isn’t the first time Wade has pulled punk stuff like this. Remember last year when he pulled Rajon Rondo down, dislocating Rondo’s elbow and crushing Boston’s title hopes? Or for some reason giving a hard foul on Kobe Bryant in the All Star game this year, resulting in a broken nose and concussion?
2. Dwyane Wade Part 2 – After losing Game 2, Wade complained in the post-game presser that Indiana was celebrating too much after the win. They weren’t, but whatever. The Bulls were pissed Indiana celebrated after beating them during the season too so this isn't the first we've heard about the Pacers being dicks. However, if you watched the game with Miami you would have seen the buzzer sound, a few Pacers high five each other, and David West rush everybody off the floor. No elaborate celebration. Funny Wade complains about celebrations, since I seem to remember the Heat having a championship party before signing anybody other than the big 3. I used to love Dwyane Wade but holy crap this dude is committing punk fouls and acting like a baby. This is why people don’t like Miami. Just shut up and play. We’re just getting started.
3. LeBron James Part 1 – Guys like Derrick Rose come across as humble because they are. Guys like Kobe Bryant come across as fierce, competitive dicks because they are. A guy like LeBron James puts on an act like he is humble and it is bullshit since everybody knows it is an act. If you've watched the Heat-Pacers series you have seen the video clip I'm about to rant on. After winning his third MVP in four years, LeBron said he can’t figure out why his name is mentioned with the greats of the game like Bird, Magic, Jordan, Kareem, etc. Well I could be cheap and say it is because LeBron doesn’t have a title, but it is more fun to point out how full of crap the self-proclaimed King is. Here is a guy who markets himself as “King James” and had ESPN hold an hour-long special on where he was going to sign during free agency. He was spotted wearing a shirt that said “LBJ MVP” a few years back so clearly he believes the hype. Say it is an honor and all that, but don’t act like you can’t believe you’re being mentioned with these people when you market yourself as the biggest and greatest thing to ever walk the Earth. When Steve Nash won his second MVP somebody asked him what comes to mind when he hears the names of the other people who have won multiple MVP awards or won two in a row and Nash replied, “Who doesn’t belong?” Nash never claimed to be King, so being humble seemed pretty genuine. LeBron still comes across as the guy trying to say the right things to make people like him because he realizes The Decision was a bad idea and wants to repair his image. And that is the problem: LeBron worries about his image too much.
4. LeBron James Part 2 – On Wednesday LeBron stated that it is “taxing” to play power forward with Bosh out and that playing 40 minutes or more in a playoff game is a lot and he was hoping he can get some rest. Now maybe some won’t see this as a complaint, but I feel talking about it is complaining since you would never hear Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan hint to the media that their coach should rest them or that they feel very tired playing a different position. Even Carmelo Anthony didn’t care about playing power forward, and he’s smaller than LeBron so going against other power forwards was tougher for him. Melo wasn’t complaining about how he was playing too many minutes or how it took a toll physically. He just wanted to make sure the Knicks were playing good enough defense to win, and that’s a fact no matter how weird saying that about Melo is. Maybe it wasn’t a complaint. Maybe he was just stating the case. I still feel it is worth noting Michael Jordan played 40 minutes or more in 17 of Chicago’s 21 playoff games in 1998, and he was 35 with bad knees. He wasn’t complaining about how playing more with Pippen injured against Utah was “taxing” and hoping he could get some rest, he took it on himself to kick some ass and win no matter what. That’s the mindset of guys like Jordan, Kobe, Garnett, and Duncan. They do what the team needs for a win and they don’t ask for shortcuts and they don’t complain. KG played small forward, then power forward, and now center. Not once did he complain about how physically demanding it was to switch positions or play more minutes in the playoffs. He wanted to win so he shut up and played. Is it so hard to ask that the most naturally talented athlete to ever play the game does the same?
5. NBA Officiating – If anybody reads this correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the NBA instituted a new rule this year that said if you pump fake and then lean into somebody and throw up a jumper as a means of getting an easy foul call the refs won’t call it. I hate that move so I was glad to hear this, but yet I saw Derrick Rose go to the line off one early in the season and I’ve seen Kobe do this all the time. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade make a living doing this as well. In Game 1 against Indiana Wade did this and went to the line in the second quarter, then Dahntay Jones of the Pacers tried the same thing towards the end of the quarter but got no call. I know the Heat are going to get a ton of calls, but with something like that can’t the refs at least be consistent? Correction: So after posting this last night I had to go look up this rule to make sure I got it right. I didn't, as the new NBA rule is for "rip-through" moves, meaning you can't swing your arms into a defender's and then throw up a shot and hope for a foul call. Good thing Brandon Roy retired otherwise he'd be screwed. But that pump fake thing should be a rule since that's as cheap as the rip-through. Either way, they called it for Wade but not for Jones just a few minutes later. It was the exact same play. That isn't right.
6. WWE Booking – They are most likely going to put the John Cena-John Laurinaitis showdown as the main event for Over the Limit this Sunday. That is totally idiotic since 1) Sheamus is defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, and Alberto Del Rio and 2) CM Punk defending the WWE title against Daniel Bryan is going to be a match of the year candidate. If Laurinaitis loses then he is fired and all outside interference is banned. This of course means Laurinaitis is going to win due to some kind of interference, most likely the incredibly lame Lord Tensai attacking John Cena backstage before the match or something. The match will be roughly 8 to 10 minutes long, Johnny Ace wins, Cena will be incapacitated somehow, and everybody except children will be mad Punk-Bryan or the four-way wasn’t the main event.
So that’s about it for now. Game 3 of the Heat-Pacers series is happening as I type this and Game 2 of the Spurs-Clippers is next so I need to get ready.
Monday, April 30, 2012
The Agony and the Ecstasy: NBA Playoffs and WWE Extreme Rules
Between Saturday and Sunday, it was an absolutely insane weekend for the BBB realm. The NBA Playoffs began and for me the season ended by the end of the first game on Saturday. On Sunday night the WWE held their first pay per view event since WrestleMania, with a returning Brock Lesnar taking on John Cena in an epic main event.
First up the NBA Playoffs. The game that started off what was supposed to be an insane post-season was the 1 seed Chicago Bulls taking on the 8 seed Philadelphia 76ers. With just over a minute left and the Bulls holding a 12 point lead, Derrick Rose tore his ACL on a drive to the basket. This instantly crushes Chicago’s hopes for a championship this year and maybe for years to come as well. An ACL injury is no joke and it very likely may take a year for Rose to be in prime shape again. But what will prime shape be? Sure some people like Baron Davis have been able to regain all of their mobility following an ACL tear, but this is a major injury that once used to be a career-ender. Will Rose just be a solid, All-Star level player or can he regain his MVP form? Rose is a tremendous athlete and medicine is always improving, but it is still a long road to recovery and for somebody whose game is predicated on the ability to outrun everybody and dash to the hoop this is terrible.
The severity of the tear is still unknown and there is still no timetable for Rose’s recovery, but this takes the Bulls out of contention next season and if Rose doesn’t regain almost all of his mobility they may not be contenders again for a long time. This ruins the playoffs since the fun that would have come in a Heat-Bulls conference finals is thrown right out the window. For all the trash I talk about LeBron and the Heat, it is still just part of being a fan and the fact it is fun to rip on your team’s rivals. Now the fun is gone for me and I have little interest in the playoffs now. The Heat have just been handed the Eastern Conference Championship for the next few seasons and it is sad. It is sad for me since Rose is my favorite professional athlete in the history of life, and it should be sad for any basketball fan as well.
Regardless of if you are a Bulls fan or not, you can’t dislike Derrick Rose. He is the bravest player in the NBA and is what everybody should want out of a star. He will do whatever it takes for his team to win, gives all the credit to his team, and goes out and plays his heart out and wants the pressure of being the guy on him. It is rare for a star to demand so much from themselves, but Rose has an insane work ethic and extreme dedication. And he’s a nice guy and a terrific player. You never want to see somebody like that go down. I absolutely hate LeBron James but I would never, ever want to see him suffer an injury that could potentially ruin his career. Where is the fun in that? I would rather see him in top shape rivaling the Bulls than see him go down.
I don’t blame the condensed schedule for this, nor to I blame Tom Thibodeau for keeping Rose in the game. Thibs wanted to get Rose back in game shape and used to closing out games, and get him used to playoff minutes. It was a totally freak injury that could have happened at any time. Rose’s game is so hectic people have been saying for years that he was a major injury waiting to happen. The condensed schedule may have sped things along, but realistically it is not that surprising that Rose suffered a major leg injury. It is extremely sad, but if you think about it you can’t be shocked. I just hope Rose can make a full or close to full recovery since he has been on pace to have one of the greatest NBA careers.
As for the rest of the Eastern Conference, Miami is going to be handed their first round series with the New York Knicks. The Heat took over 20 free throws in the second quarter alone, that should say something right there. The refs even called a flagrant foul on Tyson Chandler since LeBron James started rolling around clutching his neck like he just got shot, obviously faking since he was fine within 15 seconds. The new rule in the NBA this year that if you lean into somebody then throw up a jumper the refs will not call a foul? Thrown away for that game since LBJ went to the line several times for that. In Boston’s first game against Atlanta, Rajon Rondo got eject and is facing a suspension for chest-bumping a ref while screaming at him. This very likely will cost Boston the series if he is out for more than a game, and this just means the Heat have become the luckiest team in the universe and will make it to the Finals unscathed.
Out West, San Antonio looked dominant in their first game against the Jazz. The Lakers embarrassed the Nuggets as well, and the Grizzlies squandered a massive lead, getting outscored 35-13 in the 4th and losing 99-98. I thought for sure the Grizzlies were a sleeper team and could easily clear house and make the finals, but after a collapse like that it takes some serious stones to get back in it. Dallas was able to against Portland last year since they had been through it before. Memphis has only won a playoff series once ever so they aren’t exactly the most experienced group. And how about Dallas? Nearly coming away with a win in OKC, but Kevin Durant buried a game winner with a second and a half left. Intense stuff, but Rose’s injury was like a black cloud hanging over my enjoyment of these games.
To take my mind off the sadness of Rose’s knee getting destroyed, I ordered WWE Extreme Rules. Pretty awesome show that certainly made me feel much better. The three main events totally delivered, and the undercard was entertaining as well. Randy Orton and Kane worked a falls count anywhere match that was worlds better than their WrestleMania match. They both worked really hard and while it wasn’t a technical masterpiece, it was still entertaining and they deserve some daps for that. I expected the worst match ever but it actually turned out to be a pretty good brawl. The Cody Rhodes-Big Show tables match had a great finish since the entire storyline for the match was ‘How can little Cody Rhodes throw the massive Big Show through a table?’ Well it was simple really; with a table set up next to the ring apron Big Show was standing on, Cody kicked Big Show’s leg and made him trip and step through the table. A clever, totally heel way to win. Then Big Show’s post-match freakout was awesome, spearing Rhodes and throwing him out of the ring through a table.
The first of the three main events was Daniel Bryan getting his rematch against Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship after losing at WrestleMania in 18 seconds. It was a 2-out-of-3 falls match and was brilliantly worked, and the crowd was totally into it. Bryan has been red hot since Mania as his “YES! YES! YES!” taunt has spread across the WWE Universe like wildfire and everybody is doing it. Bryan got disqualified in the first fall by repeatedly kicking Sheamus in the shoulder against the ropes after being told to stop. He worked the shoulder over for the last few minutes of the first fall, then once the second fall started he threw Sheamus in the YES! Lock and made him pass out, tying it at 1. Then they worked a nice little third fall which Sheamus won, retaining his belt. The match had great psychology and made me sad they didn’t get longer than 18 seconds to work at Mania since they have good chemistry.
After that, CM Punk defended his WWE Championship against Chris Jericho in a Chicago Street Fight. The show took place in the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Punk’s hometown. Last time they were there, Punk put on one of the greatest matches of all time with John Cena. I wouldn’t say this match was as good, but it was still great, told a pretty good story and had some cool spots. Punk’s diving elbow to Jericho through the announce table was pretty awesome, as was Jericho getting out of the Anaconda Vise by bashing Punk in the head with a Singapore cane. Punk and Jericho are two of my top five favorites of all time so I am basically guaranteed to enjoy whatever these guys do, but this match was an awesome brawl. Sheamus and Bryan worked a technical match, and Punk and Jericho worked a fight. Both were excellent championship matches, but the main event was the biggest selling point of the show and it delivered.
Brock Lesnar left the UFC since his battle with diverticulitis proved too difficult to come back from. His midsection was so weak he was totally unable to take a punch or kick to the gut without crumpling in pain. People will question his heart and effort, but he was really sick and it is admirable he was even able to return. His return to the WWE makes me laugh though because when he came out on Raw a few weeks ago Michael Cole used Brock’s UFC weight, and probably legit weight since he lost like 20-30 pounds from his illness, of 265. That was funny to me since in WWE they lie about weights and make dudes seem way bigger than usual. Then last night they said Sheamus weighs 267 and Lesnar weighs 283 so he can seem like this massive death machine. That’s what it is all about.
I loved Lesnar’s match with Cena. I hated everything about it within the first few minutes, but as it went on I loved it. I didn’t like how the show opened with a UFC style promo package where they show interview clips from both Cena and Lesnar talking very calm about how they are going to punish each other. When the match started Lesnar fought like it was an MMA fight, taking Cena down and resorting to ground and pound. Again, this isn’t the UFC so I didn’t like it. In wrestling, when people bleed they cut their foreheads open with a razor blade. A rule in WWE’s TV-PG era is that there is no blood. These guys broke blew that rule right away when Lesnar took Cena down and busted him open hard way (no blade) with elbows to the top of the skull. Obviously it was done on purpose since Lesnar stopped once he drew blood and they wanted Cena to bleed to make Lesnar look like an animal.
But it was lame since they had the ref put on rubber gloves because of the blood like this is MMA and they had doctors check on the cut and try to stop the bleeding like it is MMA. At Survivor Series ‘03 Vince McMahon bladed after the first punch thrown by Undertaker and lost like half the blood in his body and nobody checked on him! Having the ref stop the match over blood is not something that happens in WWE and I hated it. WWE is an elaborate performance, not the UFC, so I don’t like when they try to act like it is and mooch of the UFC’s heat. I didn’t like how Lesnar’s new ring gear is MMA trunks and gloves, I didn’t like any of this fake MMA stuff they tried doing with the takedowns and ground and pound. I’ve seen Lesnar break Heath Herring’s orbital and beat him into retirement. I’ve seen Lesnar pound Frank Mir’s face in so hard Mir looked like an alien after the first round was done. How am I supposed to believe Lesnar using his MMA techniques wouldn’t absolutely kill John Cena?
I was so mad because I thought Lesnar would get a few minutes of this in then Cena would just do a few moves and win. I was kind of right, but this match turned out to be a classic regardless. Lesnar beat the shit out of Cena for like 15 minutes. Cena was bleeding all over and at one point Lesnar wiped Cena’s blood across his chest and licked it off his gloves. It was savage. When I say Lesnar destroyed Cena, I mean he DESTROYED him. I’ve never seen anything like it. The WWE had their top boy get ransacked for at least 15 minutes. The match was just under 20 I think, and Cena totally had about one minute of offense total. It was wild. Cena wore his old school chain with a padlock to the ring, and Lesnar wrapped it around Cena’s legs, hung him from the ring post, and beat the shit out of him for a few minutes. Lesnar used some of his real wrestling, busting out the rolling German suplexes, but other than that he just used strikes and brutalized Cena and had him bleeding all over.
After a while I stopped bugging about the fake MMA stuff and just started digging the match since it was the most unexpected and insane main event you could see. How often do you see the top guy get bloodied and thrown around like a piece of garbage? The finish of the match pissed me off initially but I’ve come to accept it. Cena was on the apron outside of the ring and Lesnar leapt at him. Cena had his hand wrapped with his chain and punched Lesnar in the face, Lesnar bladed (!!!!!), and Cena gave him the Attitude Adjustment onto the ring steps Lesnar had brought in. That was it. Cena pinned him, match was over. Initially I flipped out since Lesnar had beaten the living shit out of Cena then got caught with two moves and lost, but it really isn’t that bad.
Lesnar looks like he got sloppy because he tried to hit Cena with some flying something or another and got caught with the chain. He messed up and Cena barely escaped with his life. After the match Cena was selling an arm injury, at least I’m assuming he was selling and it wasn’t actually hurt, and said he may be taking a vacation and thanked the fans. Pretty random as I don’t see why you would have Lesnar job to Cena if Cena is leaving, but this is why people watch Raw the night after a PPV. I kind of like that they made Lesnar look like this wrecking machine who got too sloppy and got caught, but if Cena is taking time off this finish makes no sense as there needs to be another match.
So that’s about it for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this long-winded recap of the weekend’s madness, assuming you actually read it all and didn’t just skip to the end. Stay tuned for more Playoff thoughts at some point!
First up the NBA Playoffs. The game that started off what was supposed to be an insane post-season was the 1 seed Chicago Bulls taking on the 8 seed Philadelphia 76ers. With just over a minute left and the Bulls holding a 12 point lead, Derrick Rose tore his ACL on a drive to the basket. This instantly crushes Chicago’s hopes for a championship this year and maybe for years to come as well. An ACL injury is no joke and it very likely may take a year for Rose to be in prime shape again. But what will prime shape be? Sure some people like Baron Davis have been able to regain all of their mobility following an ACL tear, but this is a major injury that once used to be a career-ender. Will Rose just be a solid, All-Star level player or can he regain his MVP form? Rose is a tremendous athlete and medicine is always improving, but it is still a long road to recovery and for somebody whose game is predicated on the ability to outrun everybody and dash to the hoop this is terrible.
The severity of the tear is still unknown and there is still no timetable for Rose’s recovery, but this takes the Bulls out of contention next season and if Rose doesn’t regain almost all of his mobility they may not be contenders again for a long time. This ruins the playoffs since the fun that would have come in a Heat-Bulls conference finals is thrown right out the window. For all the trash I talk about LeBron and the Heat, it is still just part of being a fan and the fact it is fun to rip on your team’s rivals. Now the fun is gone for me and I have little interest in the playoffs now. The Heat have just been handed the Eastern Conference Championship for the next few seasons and it is sad. It is sad for me since Rose is my favorite professional athlete in the history of life, and it should be sad for any basketball fan as well.
Regardless of if you are a Bulls fan or not, you can’t dislike Derrick Rose. He is the bravest player in the NBA and is what everybody should want out of a star. He will do whatever it takes for his team to win, gives all the credit to his team, and goes out and plays his heart out and wants the pressure of being the guy on him. It is rare for a star to demand so much from themselves, but Rose has an insane work ethic and extreme dedication. And he’s a nice guy and a terrific player. You never want to see somebody like that go down. I absolutely hate LeBron James but I would never, ever want to see him suffer an injury that could potentially ruin his career. Where is the fun in that? I would rather see him in top shape rivaling the Bulls than see him go down.
I don’t blame the condensed schedule for this, nor to I blame Tom Thibodeau for keeping Rose in the game. Thibs wanted to get Rose back in game shape and used to closing out games, and get him used to playoff minutes. It was a totally freak injury that could have happened at any time. Rose’s game is so hectic people have been saying for years that he was a major injury waiting to happen. The condensed schedule may have sped things along, but realistically it is not that surprising that Rose suffered a major leg injury. It is extremely sad, but if you think about it you can’t be shocked. I just hope Rose can make a full or close to full recovery since he has been on pace to have one of the greatest NBA careers.
As for the rest of the Eastern Conference, Miami is going to be handed their first round series with the New York Knicks. The Heat took over 20 free throws in the second quarter alone, that should say something right there. The refs even called a flagrant foul on Tyson Chandler since LeBron James started rolling around clutching his neck like he just got shot, obviously faking since he was fine within 15 seconds. The new rule in the NBA this year that if you lean into somebody then throw up a jumper the refs will not call a foul? Thrown away for that game since LBJ went to the line several times for that. In Boston’s first game against Atlanta, Rajon Rondo got eject and is facing a suspension for chest-bumping a ref while screaming at him. This very likely will cost Boston the series if he is out for more than a game, and this just means the Heat have become the luckiest team in the universe and will make it to the Finals unscathed.
Out West, San Antonio looked dominant in their first game against the Jazz. The Lakers embarrassed the Nuggets as well, and the Grizzlies squandered a massive lead, getting outscored 35-13 in the 4th and losing 99-98. I thought for sure the Grizzlies were a sleeper team and could easily clear house and make the finals, but after a collapse like that it takes some serious stones to get back in it. Dallas was able to against Portland last year since they had been through it before. Memphis has only won a playoff series once ever so they aren’t exactly the most experienced group. And how about Dallas? Nearly coming away with a win in OKC, but Kevin Durant buried a game winner with a second and a half left. Intense stuff, but Rose’s injury was like a black cloud hanging over my enjoyment of these games.
To take my mind off the sadness of Rose’s knee getting destroyed, I ordered WWE Extreme Rules. Pretty awesome show that certainly made me feel much better. The three main events totally delivered, and the undercard was entertaining as well. Randy Orton and Kane worked a falls count anywhere match that was worlds better than their WrestleMania match. They both worked really hard and while it wasn’t a technical masterpiece, it was still entertaining and they deserve some daps for that. I expected the worst match ever but it actually turned out to be a pretty good brawl. The Cody Rhodes-Big Show tables match had a great finish since the entire storyline for the match was ‘How can little Cody Rhodes throw the massive Big Show through a table?’ Well it was simple really; with a table set up next to the ring apron Big Show was standing on, Cody kicked Big Show’s leg and made him trip and step through the table. A clever, totally heel way to win. Then Big Show’s post-match freakout was awesome, spearing Rhodes and throwing him out of the ring through a table.
The first of the three main events was Daniel Bryan getting his rematch against Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship after losing at WrestleMania in 18 seconds. It was a 2-out-of-3 falls match and was brilliantly worked, and the crowd was totally into it. Bryan has been red hot since Mania as his “YES! YES! YES!” taunt has spread across the WWE Universe like wildfire and everybody is doing it. Bryan got disqualified in the first fall by repeatedly kicking Sheamus in the shoulder against the ropes after being told to stop. He worked the shoulder over for the last few minutes of the first fall, then once the second fall started he threw Sheamus in the YES! Lock and made him pass out, tying it at 1. Then they worked a nice little third fall which Sheamus won, retaining his belt. The match had great psychology and made me sad they didn’t get longer than 18 seconds to work at Mania since they have good chemistry.
After that, CM Punk defended his WWE Championship against Chris Jericho in a Chicago Street Fight. The show took place in the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Punk’s hometown. Last time they were there, Punk put on one of the greatest matches of all time with John Cena. I wouldn’t say this match was as good, but it was still great, told a pretty good story and had some cool spots. Punk’s diving elbow to Jericho through the announce table was pretty awesome, as was Jericho getting out of the Anaconda Vise by bashing Punk in the head with a Singapore cane. Punk and Jericho are two of my top five favorites of all time so I am basically guaranteed to enjoy whatever these guys do, but this match was an awesome brawl. Sheamus and Bryan worked a technical match, and Punk and Jericho worked a fight. Both were excellent championship matches, but the main event was the biggest selling point of the show and it delivered.
Brock Lesnar left the UFC since his battle with diverticulitis proved too difficult to come back from. His midsection was so weak he was totally unable to take a punch or kick to the gut without crumpling in pain. People will question his heart and effort, but he was really sick and it is admirable he was even able to return. His return to the WWE makes me laugh though because when he came out on Raw a few weeks ago Michael Cole used Brock’s UFC weight, and probably legit weight since he lost like 20-30 pounds from his illness, of 265. That was funny to me since in WWE they lie about weights and make dudes seem way bigger than usual. Then last night they said Sheamus weighs 267 and Lesnar weighs 283 so he can seem like this massive death machine. That’s what it is all about.
I loved Lesnar’s match with Cena. I hated everything about it within the first few minutes, but as it went on I loved it. I didn’t like how the show opened with a UFC style promo package where they show interview clips from both Cena and Lesnar talking very calm about how they are going to punish each other. When the match started Lesnar fought like it was an MMA fight, taking Cena down and resorting to ground and pound. Again, this isn’t the UFC so I didn’t like it. In wrestling, when people bleed they cut their foreheads open with a razor blade. A rule in WWE’s TV-PG era is that there is no blood. These guys broke blew that rule right away when Lesnar took Cena down and busted him open hard way (no blade) with elbows to the top of the skull. Obviously it was done on purpose since Lesnar stopped once he drew blood and they wanted Cena to bleed to make Lesnar look like an animal.
But it was lame since they had the ref put on rubber gloves because of the blood like this is MMA and they had doctors check on the cut and try to stop the bleeding like it is MMA. At Survivor Series ‘03 Vince McMahon bladed after the first punch thrown by Undertaker and lost like half the blood in his body and nobody checked on him! Having the ref stop the match over blood is not something that happens in WWE and I hated it. WWE is an elaborate performance, not the UFC, so I don’t like when they try to act like it is and mooch of the UFC’s heat. I didn’t like how Lesnar’s new ring gear is MMA trunks and gloves, I didn’t like any of this fake MMA stuff they tried doing with the takedowns and ground and pound. I’ve seen Lesnar break Heath Herring’s orbital and beat him into retirement. I’ve seen Lesnar pound Frank Mir’s face in so hard Mir looked like an alien after the first round was done. How am I supposed to believe Lesnar using his MMA techniques wouldn’t absolutely kill John Cena?
I was so mad because I thought Lesnar would get a few minutes of this in then Cena would just do a few moves and win. I was kind of right, but this match turned out to be a classic regardless. Lesnar beat the shit out of Cena for like 15 minutes. Cena was bleeding all over and at one point Lesnar wiped Cena’s blood across his chest and licked it off his gloves. It was savage. When I say Lesnar destroyed Cena, I mean he DESTROYED him. I’ve never seen anything like it. The WWE had their top boy get ransacked for at least 15 minutes. The match was just under 20 I think, and Cena totally had about one minute of offense total. It was wild. Cena wore his old school chain with a padlock to the ring, and Lesnar wrapped it around Cena’s legs, hung him from the ring post, and beat the shit out of him for a few minutes. Lesnar used some of his real wrestling, busting out the rolling German suplexes, but other than that he just used strikes and brutalized Cena and had him bleeding all over.
After a while I stopped bugging about the fake MMA stuff and just started digging the match since it was the most unexpected and insane main event you could see. How often do you see the top guy get bloodied and thrown around like a piece of garbage? The finish of the match pissed me off initially but I’ve come to accept it. Cena was on the apron outside of the ring and Lesnar leapt at him. Cena had his hand wrapped with his chain and punched Lesnar in the face, Lesnar bladed (!!!!!), and Cena gave him the Attitude Adjustment onto the ring steps Lesnar had brought in. That was it. Cena pinned him, match was over. Initially I flipped out since Lesnar had beaten the living shit out of Cena then got caught with two moves and lost, but it really isn’t that bad.
Lesnar looks like he got sloppy because he tried to hit Cena with some flying something or another and got caught with the chain. He messed up and Cena barely escaped with his life. After the match Cena was selling an arm injury, at least I’m assuming he was selling and it wasn’t actually hurt, and said he may be taking a vacation and thanked the fans. Pretty random as I don’t see why you would have Lesnar job to Cena if Cena is leaving, but this is why people watch Raw the night after a PPV. I kind of like that they made Lesnar look like this wrecking machine who got too sloppy and got caught, but if Cena is taking time off this finish makes no sense as there needs to be another match.
So that’s about it for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this long-winded recap of the weekend’s madness, assuming you actually read it all and didn’t just skip to the end. Stay tuned for more Playoff thoughts at some point!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Rajon Rondo is a killer!
I’ve been pretty quiet about the NBA Playoffs thus far, having only posted predictions for the first round. There have been some surprises, like the Grizzlies and the Hornets winning in the first games of their respective series, and the Bulls not playing to expectations so far. Another surprise has been how competitive the Knicks were against hte Celtics in the first two games of their first round series. This came to an end last night at the Garden, as the Celtics beasted on New York in a game that wasn’t even competitive. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen combined for 70 points, but the catalyst behind this victory was Rajon Rondo.
Rondo finished the game with a triple double: 15 points, 11 rebounds, and a gaudy 20 assists. When Rondo has numbers like that, Boston will always wins. It’s more than just the stats, although the two are connected. When Rondo puts up those numbers, that means he is playing aggressively, pushing the pace of the game, and seeing the floor and action at least two steps ahead of everyone else. When he plays like that, everyone else on the team follows his lead. Paul Pierce in particular plays much better when Rondo is like this, as he gets more open looks and doesn’t have to work as hard to create his own shot.
More than any player on Boston, Rondo can completely change the course of a game. He is nearly impossible to contain in the open floor and his ability as a passer is unparalleled. Since February, he has been lethargic and hesitant on offense and defense and that is a big part in Boston’s lackluster record over the past few months. If you look at the numbers he was producing in the beginning of the season when the Celtics were rolling, they are comparable to his Game 3 performance against the Knicks.
While it always seems like it’s Garnett that gives the Celtics their swagger, it is Rondo. Look at the team last nite. They were laughing and joking with each other and were just vicious on the Knicks. Compare that to the first two games, where that intensity wasn’t really present until the last few minutes of the games. Look at the playoffs last year. Boston abused Cleveland because of the way Rondo shredded them. More recently, look at the first three games they played against the Heat. Rondo annihilated them and the rest of the team followed suit.
Thanks in large part to Game 3, it is apparent the Knicks are done and that Boston is heading into a 2nd Round matchup with the Miami Heat in what is probably going to be the most anticipated pairing of the entire NBA Playoffs, Finals included. If Rondo plays against them the way he did last night, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will be cursing out the Celtics for the second straight summer.
Rondo finished the game with a triple double: 15 points, 11 rebounds, and a gaudy 20 assists. When Rondo has numbers like that, Boston will always wins. It’s more than just the stats, although the two are connected. When Rondo puts up those numbers, that means he is playing aggressively, pushing the pace of the game, and seeing the floor and action at least two steps ahead of everyone else. When he plays like that, everyone else on the team follows his lead. Paul Pierce in particular plays much better when Rondo is like this, as he gets more open looks and doesn’t have to work as hard to create his own shot.
More than any player on Boston, Rondo can completely change the course of a game. He is nearly impossible to contain in the open floor and his ability as a passer is unparalleled. Since February, he has been lethargic and hesitant on offense and defense and that is a big part in Boston’s lackluster record over the past few months. If you look at the numbers he was producing in the beginning of the season when the Celtics were rolling, they are comparable to his Game 3 performance against the Knicks.
While it always seems like it’s Garnett that gives the Celtics their swagger, it is Rondo. Look at the team last nite. They were laughing and joking with each other and were just vicious on the Knicks. Compare that to the first two games, where that intensity wasn’t really present until the last few minutes of the games. Look at the playoffs last year. Boston abused Cleveland because of the way Rondo shredded them. More recently, look at the first three games they played against the Heat. Rondo annihilated them and the rest of the team followed suit.
Thanks in large part to Game 3, it is apparent the Knicks are done and that Boston is heading into a 2nd Round matchup with the Miami Heat in what is probably going to be the most anticipated pairing of the entire NBA Playoffs, Finals included. If Rondo plays against them the way he did last night, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade will be cursing out the Celtics for the second straight summer.
Monday, April 11, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Lost in Boston
Back in February, the Boston Celtics were the number one team in the Eastern Conference and cruising into the playoffs. Shaq was out, but Kendrick Perkins and Delonte West both had returned from injury and it looked like the Celtics were going to head into the playoffs with a head of steam, rather than limp into them like last season. They held tiebreakers over Miami and Chicago and it looked like they were going to be the team to beat out East.
Then, the Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins to the Thunder for Jeff Green and the Celtics chemistry and motivation up and left. Not to mention, by trading Perkins, Boston decided to put its eggs in Shaquille and Jermaine O'Neals' basket. Jermaine came back last week and has contributed in limited time, while Shaq came back for a total of 6 minutes before getting injured again. The two of them haven't even combined for 60 games played and their other center, Nenad Kristic is hurt as well. Rondo is banged up, and if he is hurt the Celtics offense does not run smoothly.
While the Celtics have struggled, Chicago has become the team to beat in the East and will likely claim the conference title. Miami has passed Boston in the Celtics and if Shaq can't contribute, the Heat would have to be a slight favorite to eliminate them. The Celtics have lost that swagger they had in the beginning part of the season and aren't playing like the team that was six minutes away from winning the title last season. Now, in order to win they would have to do it on the road. The whole point this season was that they wanted to have that extra bit of homecourt advantage into the NBA Finals and now it looks like they won't even have it for the second round.
The Celtics championship window was closing even before this season started, as the Big Three plus the O'Neals only have a limited shelf life before they are not enough as a unit to compete. If Shaq is out and there is no bench, this season could be the last time for a while that Gang Green is a championship contender. Of course, everyone was saying that last year when they tanked the second half of the season and ended up as a four seed. The big difference last year was that Pierce and Garnett had minor nagging injuries going into the postseason. This year, there are some serious depth issues that could impede a run to the title. Pinning your hopes on Shaquille O'Neal made sense in 2002, but doing so in 2011 is suicidal to a team's chances. Cleveland thought Shaq would get them over the hump last year, but it only got them a second round exit. For Boston's sake, history better not repeat itself.
Then, the Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins to the Thunder for Jeff Green and the Celtics chemistry and motivation up and left. Not to mention, by trading Perkins, Boston decided to put its eggs in Shaquille and Jermaine O'Neals' basket. Jermaine came back last week and has contributed in limited time, while Shaq came back for a total of 6 minutes before getting injured again. The two of them haven't even combined for 60 games played and their other center, Nenad Kristic is hurt as well. Rondo is banged up, and if he is hurt the Celtics offense does not run smoothly.
While the Celtics have struggled, Chicago has become the team to beat in the East and will likely claim the conference title. Miami has passed Boston in the Celtics and if Shaq can't contribute, the Heat would have to be a slight favorite to eliminate them. The Celtics have lost that swagger they had in the beginning part of the season and aren't playing like the team that was six minutes away from winning the title last season. Now, in order to win they would have to do it on the road. The whole point this season was that they wanted to have that extra bit of homecourt advantage into the NBA Finals and now it looks like they won't even have it for the second round.
The Celtics championship window was closing even before this season started, as the Big Three plus the O'Neals only have a limited shelf life before they are not enough as a unit to compete. If Shaq is out and there is no bench, this season could be the last time for a while that Gang Green is a championship contender. Of course, everyone was saying that last year when they tanked the second half of the season and ended up as a four seed. The big difference last year was that Pierce and Garnett had minor nagging injuries going into the postseason. This year, there are some serious depth issues that could impede a run to the title. Pinning your hopes on Shaquille O'Neal made sense in 2002, but doing so in 2011 is suicidal to a team's chances. Cleveland thought Shaq would get them over the hump last year, but it only got them a second round exit. For Boston's sake, history better not repeat itself.
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