Thoughts on the first weekend of NBA Playoffs!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What's Up with the Association's Top Teams?

We are slightly farther into the NBA season and even though it has only been a few days since I last shared my thoughts on the world’s greatest game, there have been some developments worth discussing regarding some of the league’s biggest and brightest teams.

Miami Heat:Artist rendering of LeBron James last night

Wow have these last few days been a learning experience or what? First, we find out Dwyane Wade may have plantar fasciitis. For those unaware, that is a very painful inflammation in the foot. After missing three games due to soreness in the foot, Wade was adamant he was fine and returned against the Warriors on Tuesday and looked very good, scoring 34 points and shooting 48%. However last night he shot 35% en route to to 17 points and a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. With this vicious schedule putting teams in action with hardly any rest, that foot is going to be a nagging issue that could come back to haunt Miami big time since Wade has hit both game winners for the team this season.

As for LeBron James, he spent the summer training with NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon to improve his post game. Hakeem’s career highlight is leading the Houston Rockets to back-to-back championships, leading to the city being dubbed “Clutch City.” Apparently Hakeem couldn’t do much for him as LBJ has spent the last two nights constructing “Anti-Clutch City” for himself and his fellow Heatles by performing miserably in the fourth quarter and overtime of both games. LeBron did practically nothing against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, notching three points in the fourth and overtime...combined. Then last night LeBron went 1-6 in the fourth and overtime, and missed several crucial free throws down the stretch. Granted it was one game in January, but it is worth pointing out the Heat have won on two game winners this season and they weren’t LeBron. Now when he’s had the ball in his hands in the clutch he’s been ineffective and cost the team. It is great LeBron has taken his game inside the three point arc and is using his superior athletic skills, but until he gets over whatever it is in his head the Heat are in serious trouble if Wade is out.

Chicago Bulls:

I get so nervous thinking about Chicago's issues so I look at this to relax

You want to talk about a team in trouble? Chicago has the deepest team in the league and may very well be the best team in the league, but there are some concerns moving forward. The most important is Derrick Rose’s health. He missed last night’s game with a sprained toe and has been having issues with his left elbow. He says he is fine, but who is really going to come out and say “Yo I’m fucked up, man”? If his toe is hurt badly then he won’t be able to drive as much and this is not a good thing. No Rose means no offense in the Windy City since there is not one person on that team who can create for themselves consistently.

The other major issue here is Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. The Bulls are paying them a whole lot of money and in the fourth quarter of the last few games they’ve been doing a whole lot of sitting on the bench. People have theorized that coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t trust them enough to play them in the late game situations, but I feel it is too weird that they are sitting for an entire quarter. My theory on it is that they are both injury prone so he is going to limit their minutes in the early season to play them longer stretches come playoff time. At least that is what I hope this is all about. If Rose is jacked up, their next best scoring options are Boozer, Rip Hamilton, and Luol Deng. Rip is nursing a groin injury, Deng plays too many minutes to be relied on too often, and if Boozer isn’t even playing then this is all very bad. And Joakim Noah’s defense and rebounding is key to the team’s success, but if he isn’t being used due to ineffectiveness, then Chicago is in some serious trouble in their quest for a ring.

Oklahoma City Thunder:

I have no clever image for this one

People are saying Durant and Westbrook are fine, but I just don’t buy it. I also don’t like how Westbrook’s percentages are going up, but his assists have stayed the same. I don’t buy that Westbrook and Durant will coexist peacefully and win a title. Well maybe they can win one, but I don’t know how great this relationship will be in the future. The Thunder also have a bit of an issue now with Eric Maynor, their back-up point guard, going down for the season with a torn ACL. He was an important piece of that Thunder depth and if the injury bug starts hitting them harder this is going to be a long season.

Los Angeles Lakers:This is all I think of when I think of Kobe

Some will say Kobe is playing great, I will say Kobe is hogging the ball because he wants to send some kind of a message that he’s still good. Yeah good for him, let’s see how taking 30 shots a game works for them come playoff time. I still refuse to believe that the FIFTEEN YEARS of wear and tear on his body aren’t going to come back and haunt him during this insane schedule. He is already nursing like four different injuries, and if doesn’t take time to heal and keeps trying to do so much this won’t end well. And even if the injuries don’t pile up for Kobe, the Lakers can’t win a championship if he is playing like this. I am glad for Mike Brown that the Lakers are playing better than people thought they would, but sadly reality is going to hit this team at some point.

Also, Andrew Bynum is going through the best stretch of his career. Let’s give it about six more games before he gets injured. And that is very sad because Bynum and Gasol up front gives LA an advantage over almost everybody, but for some reason Kobe is taking the most shots per game he has since 2006...when they had Kwame Brown and Smush Parker. Keep in mind Kobe is older and more beat up than he was back then. The Lake Show is almost over so we should enjoy it while we can. Kobe doesn’t have Phil Jackson there to stop him from being so enamored with being Kobe. Mike Brown is an enabler who allowed LeBron James to build up the biggest ego on the planet, so we can expect more of the same here.

That is it for now. There are games on TNT tonight that will be so bad I will more than likely spend my night reading Keith Richards’ autobiography and watching WWE’s Bret Hart compilation from 2005. Why on Earth do I want to watch the unbelievably overrated Knicks take on a Grizzlies team missing their best player? And why would I want to watch Dwight “I am half-assing it because I don’t want to be here in Orlando” Howard play the Warriors? Yuck.