Most of us are still recovering from the elimination of the King from the playoffs. I am realizing that I am becoming more and more of a LeBron fan if thats not obvious already. But I am not disappointed because LeBron is eliminated or the Cavs didn't make it or whatever. I am disappointed like most neutral NBA fans who wanted to see Kobe-V-LeBron. This league has always been a star driven league and that match-up right there would have been bigger than anything we have seen in years. I also want to see the NBA do well and succeed. The playoffs this year have seen huge TV ratings and a Lakers-Cavs finals would have put things over the top for David Stern. Of course he is happy that at least the Lakers made it out of the West. The hype may be gone a little bit, but the better team really won the Magic-Cavs series and I think the Finals are going to be good. Orlando is no joke.
More on the Finals later. The big news today was LeBron walking away after game 6 without shaking hands with the Magic players and also skipping the post-game presser. The Cavs were handled easily by the Magic in this game. Even LeBron couldn't do much as he had to settle for 25-7-7. All-star type night for most players, but mediocre at best for LeBron if you look at what kind of numbers he has been putting up all series long. It had gotten to a point where the Cavs had nobody else even remotely dependable on their roster. It was literally 1-on-5 for the most part and they were not going to beat the Magic in Orlando with that kind of an offense. Not when Dwight Howard manned up and dropped 40-14-4 on the Cavs on 14/21 shooting. Dude is a beast inside especially if he is hitting those free-throws. The Cavs had absolutely no answer to this guy all series long. Z-Man is too slow for him, Varejao is too short for him and Ben Wallace is both.
Thus ended a memorable series and it was LeBron's individual brilliance that made this series interesting. I was half-expecting the NBA to "fix" game 6 and send the series back to Cleveland for a game 7 like they did in 2002 for the Lakers against the King. I will never forget that game and apparently neither will most hard-core NBA fans. You hear about that game a lot even today on the radio whenever people talk about officiating. One reporter even called it a "monumental miscarriages of NBA justice". May be the zebras could have made it happen on Saturday if only the Cavs had kept it close! They were down by 20 by half-time and even the Commish couldn't have saved them. As I am typing this, I am realizing that I might not even have been that upset if they had engineered a game 7 and force-fed Cavs to us in the Finals. Goes to show you why sports leagues operate and officiate the way they do. At the end of the day, it's just entertainment and even a purist like me may not get that upset with "fixed" games unless I have a strong rooting interest one way or the other. For instance, the 2002 game pissed me off big-time because I am a Laker-hater.
In any case, LeBron lost and walked away not to be heard at all. My initial reaction was that it was not a big deal. I was more offended by him missing the press conference. To me, he is obligated to do that. He owes it to the fans, reporters and the league. I didn't think much of him skipping the hugs-and-kisses portion of the post-game program though I do realize that it is an integral part of being a good sport. The game was on a weekend and hence the chatter about this was building up slowly. All the heavy hitters in the media were off for the weekend. Then LeBron came back on Sunday and spoke to the media wearing a Yankees hat (why?). I thought that conversation was strange and made things much worse. I was expecting him to give out some stupid, semi-apologetic, inane explanation and put the incident behind him. But he came out and tried to justify his behavior. He said it doesn't make sense for him to shake-hands with the team that just beat his team up. That was OK. Kinda sounds like a tough-skinned old-timer. But then his reasons were stupid. He called himself a "winner" and a "competitor" and thats why he won't do that.
Thats wrong at so many levels. First and foremost, "competitor" might be one of those over-used words that I hate. What do you mean when you say "he is a competitor" ! This is the NBA. It's not like the other guys are there just for the post-game buffet. They are some of the most competitive, athletic specimens in the World. The media in our culture goes over-board with these so-called intangibles. I would rather have guys like Kobe, LeBron and MJ call themselves the "most talented" rather than use stupid adjectives like "competitor". Secondly, you just lost a playoff series. Wrong time to call yourself a "winner" - not that there is a good time to call yourself a "winner" anyways. So basically LeBron made it worse with that presser and come Monday morning, all hell breaks lose. The media is all over him and Adrian Wojnarowski on Yahoo sports just ripped him apart in an article titled "Royal Pain" that called him a "loser". It's funny that the conversation started over the weekend with a comparison with Kobe. Some media members were like "LeBron is getting away with this. People would be all over Kobe if he did this". I feel like reverse psychology or something has kicked in since and people are now giving this story a lot more attention than they think they are. To be fair, LeBron probably deserves it, but since this is the first serious blot on his record, it feels strange. This post-season has been a huge learning experience for LeBron on several fronts. I hope it's all part of the growing process.
Now on to the finals.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Triple Treat
The Cavs handled the first of their 3 potential elimination games today. They were up and down once again - up 22 and then down 8. I am not sure if thats Cavs fault or if it's Magic's inconsistency. In any case, the game was all over the place until the King took over in the 4-Th quarter. He scored or assisted on 29 straight points or something like that in the 4-Th quarter when the game was on the line. Another great performance by LeBron and this whole series has been one impressive stretch for Bron. He had a triple double with 37-14-12 on a night when he did get some help from his teammates. Mo Williams was hitting his 3's and connected on 6/9 while Boobie Gibson hit 3/4. The Cavs hit 50% of their threes while the Magic connected on just 32%.
That, in a nutshell, might be the secret behind these games - the team that hits the threes on a given night, win the game. Both teams need threes. Maic because they take a lot of threes. Cavs because LeBron gets double and triple teamed and he can get his teammates open 3's. If they hit those, the King gets a triple double and the Cavs win. If they keep missing those, it puts more pressure on the King and the game goes the other way. I don't think it's a coincidence that the team with a better 3 point percentage has won all 5 games in the series so far. The Cavs are very much in this series. The games have been close and all they have to do now is win one game at Orlando. It's always huge to have that game 7 at home. But the Cavs have to get their first. I have a feeling they will. One good game in Orlando, this series is theirs.
Lakers will probably hold up their end of the bargain and be in the Finals soon and wait there for the Cavs. Their series is also at 3-2, but they are leading and they got game 7 at home. They will probably slack off and lose game 6, but then take care of things in game 7. This series is featuring a lot of talk about the officiating. That always happens during the playoffs, but you have to wonder why that happens more when Lakers are involved. Phil Jackson and the Lakers were fined $25k apiece as a punishment for his comments regarding the officiating in game 4. At least one member of the Nuggets believed those comments factored into how game 5 was called. "The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game. They got their money's worth," said a Denver player, not wanting to be identified for fear of retribution from the league. All I can say is, "I love this game!"
That, in a nutshell, might be the secret behind these games - the team that hits the threes on a given night, win the game. Both teams need threes. Maic because they take a lot of threes. Cavs because LeBron gets double and triple teamed and he can get his teammates open 3's. If they hit those, the King gets a triple double and the Cavs win. If they keep missing those, it puts more pressure on the King and the game goes the other way. I don't think it's a coincidence that the team with a better 3 point percentage has won all 5 games in the series so far. The Cavs are very much in this series. The games have been close and all they have to do now is win one game at Orlando. It's always huge to have that game 7 at home. But the Cavs have to get their first. I have a feeling they will. One good game in Orlando, this series is theirs.
Lakers will probably hold up their end of the bargain and be in the Finals soon and wait there for the Cavs. Their series is also at 3-2, but they are leading and they got game 7 at home. They will probably slack off and lose game 6, but then take care of things in game 7. This series is featuring a lot of talk about the officiating. That always happens during the playoffs, but you have to wonder why that happens more when Lakers are involved. Phil Jackson and the Lakers were fined $25k apiece as a punishment for his comments regarding the officiating in game 4. At least one member of the Nuggets believed those comments factored into how game 5 was called. "The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game. They got their money's worth," said a Denver player, not wanting to be identified for fear of retribution from the league. All I can say is, "I love this game!"
Monday, May 25, 2009
The Shot and everything thereafter
We have all seen MJ's shot over Craig Ehlo time and time again. That play is now part of the MJ legend and rightfully so. Slightly after 20 years since that happened, LeBron hit a game-winning, buzzer beating 3 on Friday to kick off the memorial day weekend in style. The bloom is a little bit off that rose since the Cavs lost the next game and are looking up at the Magic with a 1-2 series record. More than the record, the Cavs seem to have a bunch of match-up issues against this Magic team and they need to find some answers and find it now. But still, that shot on Friday was one of those legendary plays. The Cavs were leading that game by 23 at one point before losing all of the lead and letting the Magic and Hedo do whatever they wanted in the second half. Hedo hit a clutch 3 and followed it up with a drive and a tough pop for a 2 with just a second to go. The Cavs looked done. Down 2 with just a second to go and staring at a 0-2 deficit with the next 2 games on the road. The TV shot of a kid at the Q with his hands on his head and looking all shocked and depressed was priceless. I would say he is also now part of history and the legend of LeBron.
The Cavs came out of the timeout and tried to run a play for LeBron to go for the lob and a tip-in or a dunk. But Hedo, who had just hit a shot that we all thought was a game winner, played good D on Bron and didn't let him fly to the hoop. So LeBron shoved him off, changed direction and popped out. Now he got some separation from Hedo. Mo Williams got him the ball and LeBron rised up and nailed a three. He was a good feet or more away from the top of the key and by the time he took the shot, Hedo was back on him and defended him pretty well. But this was LeBron's night and LeBron's shot. So the ball went in and the whole scene looked surreal. We are all witnesses once again! Great plays in the playoffs are immortalized forever. We all remember the Robert Horry 3, Derek Fisher's 0.4 sec shot, etc., etc. and with the whole "where amazing happens" promotion of the NBA, these moments seem to have even more of a shelf life. But when a superstar hits those same shots, the moment just becomes that much bigger and thats exactly what happened on Friday. You knew you were looking at an instant classic and if the Cavs move onto win a championship this season, that shot will be the biggest story of this 2008-2009 season.
But we are not there yet. The Cavs seem to have their hands full. The match-up issues are getting worse. They still can't handle Howard, Lewis or Turkoglu. The Z man is big but is too slow for Howard. They may insert Ben Wallace to keep up with Howard's speed, but he is small and is a non-factor offensively. Varejao can't defend Rashard Lewis who is basically a versatile wing more than a big man. Plus LeBron is getting tired carrying the offense and can't defend Hedo (or Rashard) for the entire game. He shot poorly on Sunday, but was still the best Cavs player on the floor. It might have just been a case of poor shooting at a road gym, but they got to get comfortable and play much better in Orlando tomorrow. Otherwise, they'll be staring at a 1-3 defecit. If they win, then they get home-court back and that shot takes a whole new meaning right away. If not for that shot, they are staring at a sweep tomorrow. The Cavs have lost most of the games over the last few years against the Magic - 10 out of 14. That's not a coincidence, especially given the great records the Cavs have piled up the last 3 years. Magic definitely have their number and coach Mike Brown better figure something out soon.
In the West, the Lakers are doing what they do best - being inconsistent and playing up-and-down. The series is tied at 2-2 after the Denver abused the Lakers on the boards today. Nuggets had 3 dudes with 13 or more boards - Kenyon, bird-man and Nene, with a lot of them coming on the offensive glass. Kobe was tripped by Dahntay Jones and was all fired up to take over the game. But the Lakers just could not get any stops. Kobe tried jacking up a lot of shots, but one man can only do so much when you are trailing by 12 or 14 and can't get defensive stops. Plus Phillip put him on the bench for a while to cool him down. He probably saw the "shoot at sight" Kobe coming out and wanted to freeze him a little bit. Net result, the Lakers lost big and that too with Melo not doing anything. He was sick and scored just 15 today. But it didn't matter. Of course the Lakers will probably win game 5 at home and drag the series to 7 games and win it the hard way. They don't seem to have the heart or the killer instinct to end these things early. Most of the role players don't seem to have the maturity to score on the road and they don't give Pau Gasol the ball either. Strange team indeed.
The Cavs came out of the timeout and tried to run a play for LeBron to go for the lob and a tip-in or a dunk. But Hedo, who had just hit a shot that we all thought was a game winner, played good D on Bron and didn't let him fly to the hoop. So LeBron shoved him off, changed direction and popped out. Now he got some separation from Hedo. Mo Williams got him the ball and LeBron rised up and nailed a three. He was a good feet or more away from the top of the key and by the time he took the shot, Hedo was back on him and defended him pretty well. But this was LeBron's night and LeBron's shot. So the ball went in and the whole scene looked surreal. We are all witnesses once again! Great plays in the playoffs are immortalized forever. We all remember the Robert Horry 3, Derek Fisher's 0.4 sec shot, etc., etc. and with the whole "where amazing happens" promotion of the NBA, these moments seem to have even more of a shelf life. But when a superstar hits those same shots, the moment just becomes that much bigger and thats exactly what happened on Friday. You knew you were looking at an instant classic and if the Cavs move onto win a championship this season, that shot will be the biggest story of this 2008-2009 season.
But we are not there yet. The Cavs seem to have their hands full. The match-up issues are getting worse. They still can't handle Howard, Lewis or Turkoglu. The Z man is big but is too slow for Howard. They may insert Ben Wallace to keep up with Howard's speed, but he is small and is a non-factor offensively. Varejao can't defend Rashard Lewis who is basically a versatile wing more than a big man. Plus LeBron is getting tired carrying the offense and can't defend Hedo (or Rashard) for the entire game. He shot poorly on Sunday, but was still the best Cavs player on the floor. It might have just been a case of poor shooting at a road gym, but they got to get comfortable and play much better in Orlando tomorrow. Otherwise, they'll be staring at a 1-3 defecit. If they win, then they get home-court back and that shot takes a whole new meaning right away. If not for that shot, they are staring at a sweep tomorrow. The Cavs have lost most of the games over the last few years against the Magic - 10 out of 14. That's not a coincidence, especially given the great records the Cavs have piled up the last 3 years. Magic definitely have their number and coach Mike Brown better figure something out soon.
In the West, the Lakers are doing what they do best - being inconsistent and playing up-and-down. The series is tied at 2-2 after the Denver abused the Lakers on the boards today. Nuggets had 3 dudes with 13 or more boards - Kenyon, bird-man and Nene, with a lot of them coming on the offensive glass. Kobe was tripped by Dahntay Jones and was all fired up to take over the game. But the Lakers just could not get any stops. Kobe tried jacking up a lot of shots, but one man can only do so much when you are trailing by 12 or 14 and can't get defensive stops. Plus Phillip put him on the bench for a while to cool him down. He probably saw the "shoot at sight" Kobe coming out and wanted to freeze him a little bit. Net result, the Lakers lost big and that too with Melo not doing anything. He was sick and scored just 15 today. But it didn't matter. Of course the Lakers will probably win game 5 at home and drag the series to 7 games and win it the hard way. They don't seem to have the heart or the killer instinct to end these things early. Most of the role players don't seem to have the maturity to score on the road and they don't give Pau Gasol the ball either. Strange team indeed.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Shining Stars
We are 3 games into the Conference Finals and we have seen 3 great games. Lakers won by 2 points on Tuesday before losing by 3 today. Cleveland lost a beauty yesterday by just a point. We have also seen great performances from the stars as Kobe, LeBron, Melo and Dwight are pouring it on. It's been sort of a rebirth for Melo in these playoffs as he seems to be gaining some of his mojo and attention back. It's almost like he wanted the whole LeBron-Melo talk to come back after a season full of LeBron-Kobe hype. He has scored 39 and 34 in the two games to match Kobe's 40 and 32. These guys score 30 like it's nobody's business. NBA is at it's best when stars shine bright and thats exactly what's happening on both conferences right now.
LeBron is at a whole another level right now. He dropped 49 on the Magic, but somehow the Cavs still lost. They wasted a huge first half lead and LeBron looked real tired at the end and couldn't close the game out. The Magic were a one-man show with D-Howard for a long time, but once Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu joined the party, their fortunes turned. Hedo was spraying assists like Steve Nash and Lewis was draining clutch threes. Suddenly the Cavs were the one-man army with little fire-power. This is not going to be an easy series for the Cavs, but if the Magic can't stop LeBron, the Cavs will still be the favorites. But Barkley made an interesting point on TNT. He says that the Cavs don't have an answer for Howard, Lewis or Turkoglu. LeBron has to defend either Lewis or Hedo. Even then, they can't defend the other 2. This might be the issue for the Cavs.
Playoffs are all about adjustments. I am curious to see the adjustments both coaches make Friday. Cavs have to figure out a way to defend the three-headed monster of the Magic and the Magic have to try and slow down the King. The greatest quote of this NBA season might have been the one by Stan Van Gundy to his players. Apparently he told them you guys are acting like "witnesses" out there. That seemed to have worked like magic on his team. Speaking of "witnesses", how great is that marketing campaign! Nike seems to have hit the jackpot with that line. It sounded ballsy and a little presumptuous a few years back, but LeBron is making it ring true every night. Even I feel like I am a witness every game on TV. I watched a lot of Jordon, but was a little young and dumb to realize the historic significance of what was going on. I appreciate LeBron a lot better. Lets see if he gets to fly as high as his airness.
LeBron is at a whole another level right now. He dropped 49 on the Magic, but somehow the Cavs still lost. They wasted a huge first half lead and LeBron looked real tired at the end and couldn't close the game out. The Magic were a one-man show with D-Howard for a long time, but once Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu joined the party, their fortunes turned. Hedo was spraying assists like Steve Nash and Lewis was draining clutch threes. Suddenly the Cavs were the one-man army with little fire-power. This is not going to be an easy series for the Cavs, but if the Magic can't stop LeBron, the Cavs will still be the favorites. But Barkley made an interesting point on TNT. He says that the Cavs don't have an answer for Howard, Lewis or Turkoglu. LeBron has to defend either Lewis or Hedo. Even then, they can't defend the other 2. This might be the issue for the Cavs.
Playoffs are all about adjustments. I am curious to see the adjustments both coaches make Friday. Cavs have to figure out a way to defend the three-headed monster of the Magic and the Magic have to try and slow down the King. The greatest quote of this NBA season might have been the one by Stan Van Gundy to his players. Apparently he told them you guys are acting like "witnesses" out there. That seemed to have worked like magic on his team. Speaking of "witnesses", how great is that marketing campaign! Nike seems to have hit the jackpot with that line. It sounded ballsy and a little presumptuous a few years back, but LeBron is making it ring true every night. Even I feel like I am a witness every game on TV. I watched a lot of Jordon, but was a little young and dumb to realize the historic significance of what was going on. I appreciate LeBron a lot better. Lets see if he gets to fly as high as his airness.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Final 4
The NBA's final four starts tomorrow. It's Lakers V Denver and Cleveland V Orlando. Lakers took care of the Rockets at home rather easily. They locked down the Rockets and at one point in the first quarter, it looked like the Rocket may never score a point in that game! Thats how bad their offense was. Their defense was still effective and it was rather sad to see the Rockets not be able to do anything offensively. The Lakers D'ed up the young Aaron Brooks pretty well and Scola couldn't get going either. Ron Artest was way off and that was the end of story. Suddenly, it felt like they desperately needed Yao and T-Mac. If not for their defense, the Rockets might have been trailing by 25 after just one quarter. It was a total team effort by the Lakers and Bynum and Gasol came to play big-time. Kobe was probably the least effective Laker on the floor, but on this day, it didn't matter.
The Magic proved me wrong and spanked the Celtics in Boston. Pretty impressive performance by the Magic shooters as they hit 13/21 from downtown. As I had mentioned before, Turkoglu was the key in this one as he had a 25-5-12 night. Thats the kind of performance they need from this guy every game against the Cavs. Ray-Ray had a decent game finally, but the Celtics just ran out of gas in this series. A Celtics-Cavs series would have carried a little more hype, but Magic are really the better team without KG in the mix. I have a feeling this is not going to be a walk in the park for the King and the Cavs. Dwight Howard is going to have an impact at both ends of the floor and the Cavs bigs will be tested in this series unlike the first two series. But who said getting to the finals is easy? I think the Cavs get there, but it might take them 6 or 7 games. The Magic should especially be confident coming off that game 7 win on the road.
In the West, I say Lakers in 6. It's gonna be a terrific series with 2 explosive offenses on the court. Denver can be tough especially at home. I can see them score a boat-load of points on the Lakers. They are loaded offensively and the Lakers will have their hands full with Melo, Chauncey and Nene. But at the end of the day, I don't think the Nuggets have the two things the Rockets had that caused all sorts of match-up problems for the Lakers. The Nuggets don't have a Shane Battier type guy who can stay in front of the black mamba and throw up a hand on his mug all night long. Also they don't have a speed daemon like Aaron Brooks who exposed the slow-footed defenders the Lakers have. Denver does have other kinds of weapons and thats what makes this series very interesting. Chauncey has beaten the Fakers in the past and he'll try again. But I don't see the maturity and experience in that roster to pick them to win this series. Plus, like the NBA head-quarters, I want to see a 23-24 finals as well. A Orlando-Denver finals should be David Stern's worst nightmare.
I just hope the Denver-LA series even happens as per schedule. Apparently the Pepsi center in Denver is double-booked on the day of game 4 for a WWE event. I agree with Vince McMahon that somebody in the Nuggets front-office didn't think the rich and creamies will still be balling this deep in to May! Chauncey came along in a trade and spoiled all their plans I guess. Now the WWE has to find a new place to throw fake chairs on roided up thugs in tight pants. In other news, the one about Dirk Nowitzki's fiancee is a strange one. A woman was arrested from his house and she is apparently a felon with multiple identities and a history of trouble. She also seems to have done this before with other athletes like QB Tony Banks. In short, Dirk was engaged to a 37 year old groupie who is a felon and looks VERY average. How the hell did that happen? Is that the best Nowitzki can pull? Some even say she was pregnant, but Nowitzki is not talking. Weird story for sure.
Tomorrow is also the NBA draft lottery. Kings have the worst record, but that doesn't mean they get Blake Griffin.
The Magic proved me wrong and spanked the Celtics in Boston. Pretty impressive performance by the Magic shooters as they hit 13/21 from downtown. As I had mentioned before, Turkoglu was the key in this one as he had a 25-5-12 night. Thats the kind of performance they need from this guy every game against the Cavs. Ray-Ray had a decent game finally, but the Celtics just ran out of gas in this series. A Celtics-Cavs series would have carried a little more hype, but Magic are really the better team without KG in the mix. I have a feeling this is not going to be a walk in the park for the King and the Cavs. Dwight Howard is going to have an impact at both ends of the floor and the Cavs bigs will be tested in this series unlike the first two series. But who said getting to the finals is easy? I think the Cavs get there, but it might take them 6 or 7 games. The Magic should especially be confident coming off that game 7 win on the road.
In the West, I say Lakers in 6. It's gonna be a terrific series with 2 explosive offenses on the court. Denver can be tough especially at home. I can see them score a boat-load of points on the Lakers. They are loaded offensively and the Lakers will have their hands full with Melo, Chauncey and Nene. But at the end of the day, I don't think the Nuggets have the two things the Rockets had that caused all sorts of match-up problems for the Lakers. The Nuggets don't have a Shane Battier type guy who can stay in front of the black mamba and throw up a hand on his mug all night long. Also they don't have a speed daemon like Aaron Brooks who exposed the slow-footed defenders the Lakers have. Denver does have other kinds of weapons and thats what makes this series very interesting. Chauncey has beaten the Fakers in the past and he'll try again. But I don't see the maturity and experience in that roster to pick them to win this series. Plus, like the NBA head-quarters, I want to see a 23-24 finals as well. A Orlando-Denver finals should be David Stern's worst nightmare.
I just hope the Denver-LA series even happens as per schedule. Apparently the Pepsi center in Denver is double-booked on the day of game 4 for a WWE event. I agree with Vince McMahon that somebody in the Nuggets front-office didn't think the rich and creamies will still be balling this deep in to May! Chauncey came along in a trade and spoiled all their plans I guess. Now the WWE has to find a new place to throw fake chairs on roided up thugs in tight pants. In other news, the one about Dirk Nowitzki's fiancee is a strange one. A woman was arrested from his house and she is apparently a felon with multiple identities and a history of trouble. She also seems to have done this before with other athletes like QB Tony Banks. In short, Dirk was engaged to a 37 year old groupie who is a felon and looks VERY average. How the hell did that happen? Is that the best Nowitzki can pull? Some even say she was pregnant, but Nowitzki is not talking. Weird story for sure.
Tomorrow is also the NBA draft lottery. Kings have the worst record, but that doesn't mean they get Blake Griffin.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Home cooking for game sevens
Two game sevens tomorrow. I expect the home teams to come through though I wouldn't be surprised if Magic wins and if Houston makes it close. I am proud of what Houston is doing, but I would be shocked if they win in LA. I just hope for a close game. LA has looked shakier and shakier as the playoffs have progressed. More and more people are now jumping on the Denver and Cleveland bandwagon and Mark Jackson says he is done picking the Lakers to win another series in these playoffs. So expect a lot of experts to pick Denver in the next round. Denver has looked awesome, but I am not sure if they match-up against the Lakers as well as Houston. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.
The Rockets have 2 things that are killing the Lakers. The Lakers have absolutely no answer to Aaron Brooks and they have Shane Battier (and Ron Artest) to keep a hand in Kobe's face all the time. A few years back I tuned in to a Pac-10 basketball game and was completely blown away by a player I saw in the Oregon uniform. That was Aaron Brooks and I have been his fan ever since. He was laser quick and unstoppable in college. I was sure he had NBA quickness, but I was not sure if he had the size for the association. Heck, he looked tiny even for college. I was happy when he got drafted and even happier when the Rockets traded away Rafer Alston and expanded Aaron's role. He has repaid them in full in this series.
Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar are especially useless trying to defend Brooks. Phillip had to dig deep into his depth-chart and try Shannon Brown on Aaron Brooks for a few minutes. The dude is VERY quick. I don't expect anybody to stay in front of him. But he is exposing Lakers defensively and showing how soft they are in the middle. The Lakers team defense seems busted. Both Brooks and Scola killed them in game 6. Andrew Bynum can help defensively, but Phillip is not able to play him much for whatever reason. So Houston has shown us that the Lakers are still the Fakers and have defensive issues and are still soft.
The Fakers are at home and they can't lose this game. The other game 7 is even more interesting. Boston is at home and they have made a habit out of winning game 7's at home over the last 2 years. They play well during the regular season, get home-court and then use it to win game 7's at home during the playoffs. Like the Lakers against the rockets, they had no business even going to game 7's last year, but this year without KG, this is the best they can hope for. Magic are probably more talented, but they seem immature from coach on down. The Magic probably need Hedo to show up big tomorrow. Not sure what happened to Hedo this season. He has taken a step back from last year. The smart money should be on the Celtics in this one though I picked the Magic to win the series originally. I was not counting on this going 7. Ray Allen is due for a big one for the Celts.
The Rockets have 2 things that are killing the Lakers. The Lakers have absolutely no answer to Aaron Brooks and they have Shane Battier (and Ron Artest) to keep a hand in Kobe's face all the time. A few years back I tuned in to a Pac-10 basketball game and was completely blown away by a player I saw in the Oregon uniform. That was Aaron Brooks and I have been his fan ever since. He was laser quick and unstoppable in college. I was sure he had NBA quickness, but I was not sure if he had the size for the association. Heck, he looked tiny even for college. I was happy when he got drafted and even happier when the Rockets traded away Rafer Alston and expanded Aaron's role. He has repaid them in full in this series.
Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar are especially useless trying to defend Brooks. Phillip had to dig deep into his depth-chart and try Shannon Brown on Aaron Brooks for a few minutes. The dude is VERY quick. I don't expect anybody to stay in front of him. But he is exposing Lakers defensively and showing how soft they are in the middle. The Lakers team defense seems busted. Both Brooks and Scola killed them in game 6. Andrew Bynum can help defensively, but Phillip is not able to play him much for whatever reason. So Houston has shown us that the Lakers are still the Fakers and have defensive issues and are still soft.
The Fakers are at home and they can't lose this game. The other game 7 is even more interesting. Boston is at home and they have made a habit out of winning game 7's at home over the last 2 years. They play well during the regular season, get home-court and then use it to win game 7's at home during the playoffs. Like the Lakers against the rockets, they had no business even going to game 7's last year, but this year without KG, this is the best they can hope for. Magic are probably more talented, but they seem immature from coach on down. The Magic probably need Hedo to show up big tomorrow. Not sure what happened to Hedo this season. He has taken a step back from last year. The smart money should be on the Celtics in this one though I picked the Magic to win the series originally. I was not counting on this going 7. Ray Allen is due for a big one for the Celts.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Stupid Cubes
Mavs and the Nuggets played a great game tonight. Dirk Nowitzki came to ball today and singularly carried the Mavs to the finish line. He had a 44-13 night and hit 14/25 shots. Melo scored 41 in a losing effort and he was awesome too. It's interesting that both these guys had a rather quite season by their standards. Dirk is a former MVP and we are kinda used to his numbers and the Mavs were up and down this season. So there was not so much attention on him all season though he actually averaged more points per game than he did during his MVP year. In the case of Melo, I guess he has lost some of his sheen because of his suspensions and other extra-curricular activities. He was leading the league in scoring a couple of years back and was a MVP front-runner when he got suspended for a brawl. Plus he was always compared to LeBron until recently and now LeBron has taken off and separated himself. Melo's numbers were also a little down this year. But he has always been known for his 4-Th quarter heroics and even Kenny and Charles were talking about how pure a scorer he is. Kenny was saying he might even score easier that Kobe. Who knows - this year's finals might end up being all about LeBron-Melo instead of LeBron-Kobe.
But tonight, Dirk owned the 4-Th quarter. He was not going to let the Mavs lose. Dirk has had a great off-season so far. He has scored 31, 28, 35, 33 and 44 in the last 5 games. Those are legitimate superstar numbers. With all that said, the Mavs are not going anywhere unless they pair him up with another superstar. In other words, Dirk is much like KG or Pau Gasol. He is a better option 1-A than option 1. He needs that Paul Pierce or a Kobe around him. Thats what the Mavs are missing as far as winning a championship goes. Of course, Western conference semi-finals aint bad, but Cuban needs to get another guy to score with Dirk. Today was great for them, but Dirk can't do this every day. Speaking of Cuban, he is plain stupid and he was a big story today. Apparently he had a run-in with Kenyon Martin's mother on Saturday and referred to him as a thug and a punk. How classy! I do think Kenyon is a thug, but cubes had no bloody business saying that to his mom. Cubes is the wannabe thug himself who needs to be spanked by somebody and put in his place. I was hoping Kenyon would do it today since he wanted to meet him and deal with him face-to-face.
The best part of the story might be Kenyon's great quote - "I don't back away from nobody except the law.” Nothing happened today, but apparently a few fans were ejected around Kenyon's mom and his girlfriend. Thats amazing to me. How retarded are these fans that they would abuse the family of visiting players! How can you be so mean to such guests, especially to visiting women. I don't get that at all. Anyways, the series now moves to Denver and the Nuggets should take care of business on Wednesday. In the East, the Cavs buried the Hawks today. LeBron had a sub-par shooting night, but his team came through. Even Wally Szerbiak and Delonte West had impressive dunks. To borrow Delonte's phrase, how player is that? That dunk was very player of Delonte! The best part of the playoffs so far might be the fact that "Derek Fisher" has become a verb. I played basketball at the park this weekend and guys were routinely joking and saying things like "pull a Derek Fisher on him" and "I almost Derek Fisher'ed him". Even Antoine Wright asked the reporters after that missed foul on Melo on Saturday - "What do you want me to do? Do you want me to Derek Fisher him?". I love it!
But tonight, Dirk owned the 4-Th quarter. He was not going to let the Mavs lose. Dirk has had a great off-season so far. He has scored 31, 28, 35, 33 and 44 in the last 5 games. Those are legitimate superstar numbers. With all that said, the Mavs are not going anywhere unless they pair him up with another superstar. In other words, Dirk is much like KG or Pau Gasol. He is a better option 1-A than option 1. He needs that Paul Pierce or a Kobe around him. Thats what the Mavs are missing as far as winning a championship goes. Of course, Western conference semi-finals aint bad, but Cuban needs to get another guy to score with Dirk. Today was great for them, but Dirk can't do this every day. Speaking of Cuban, he is plain stupid and he was a big story today. Apparently he had a run-in with Kenyon Martin's mother on Saturday and referred to him as a thug and a punk. How classy! I do think Kenyon is a thug, but cubes had no bloody business saying that to his mom. Cubes is the wannabe thug himself who needs to be spanked by somebody and put in his place. I was hoping Kenyon would do it today since he wanted to meet him and deal with him face-to-face.
The best part of the story might be Kenyon's great quote - "I don't back away from nobody except the law.” Nothing happened today, but apparently a few fans were ejected around Kenyon's mom and his girlfriend. Thats amazing to me. How retarded are these fans that they would abuse the family of visiting players! How can you be so mean to such guests, especially to visiting women. I don't get that at all. Anyways, the series now moves to Denver and the Nuggets should take care of business on Wednesday. In the East, the Cavs buried the Hawks today. LeBron had a sub-par shooting night, but his team came through. Even Wally Szerbiak and Delonte West had impressive dunks. To borrow Delonte's phrase, how player is that? That dunk was very player of Delonte! The best part of the playoffs so far might be the fact that "Derek Fisher" has become a verb. I played basketball at the park this weekend and guys were routinely joking and saying things like "pull a Derek Fisher on him" and "I almost Derek Fisher'ed him". Even Antoine Wright asked the reporters after that missed foul on Melo on Saturday - "What do you want me to do? Do you want me to Derek Fisher him?". I love it!
Saturday, May 09, 2009
We are all witnesses!
Today was one of those "I am a witness" day. We watched absolute greatness in LeBron. He had a 47-12-8 night and was unstoppable. When this guy is on, he is just a treat to watch. Kobe is also unstoppable, but they are two very different players. It's a very interesting comparison. Kobe is still the best pure scorer in the league, but LeBron is quickly getting there. His jumper is getting better every day. But his strength, size, patience and passing ability make him a very different player than Kobe and probably a better player overall. We want to see them do it against each other in the same court at the highest level called the NBA finals.
The Atlanta Hawks had no defense for LeBron today. They let him connect on 15 of 25 shots. Their defense sucks and they have no size in the paint. They are clearly overmatched and they would be lucky to steal just one from the Cavs. They had big runs today and it seemed like they can keep it close. But the Cavs defense bottled them up for long stretches of the second half and LeBron was unstoppable on offense. It's time to bring on the Magic. May be they'll test the Cavs for the first time this off-season. A Boston-Cleveland series would have been great, but KG's injury seems to have killed the drama.
In the West, the refs blew a call and let Melo hit a game winning three against the Mavs. After calling all kinds of fouls and throwing people out for all kinds of offenses this post-season, the zebras failed to call a intentional "foul to give" hack on Melo. The defender stopped because he hacked Melo and was expecting a whistle and Melo continued the play and hit a game wining three. Very OUCH for Dallas. Apparently it was the same ref who refused to blow the whistle on Derek Fisher last year against the Spurs. Looks like this guy swallows his whistle at the end of games. One question I have is, did the coach screw up by not giving the refs the heads up? Coches usually do it just to be safe.
Here's a quick question for baseball fans. Who is the best pitcher in all of baseball? Not sure how many people will answer Zach Greinke. His ERA is a robust 0.51 and has 6 wins, both stats leading both the leagues. He has the KC Royals on top of the AL Central. Pretty impressive. He could be this year's Cliff Lee - a familiar, mediocre pitcher having an incredible season out of nowhere. But Zach didn't have too bad a season last year, though this year, he is gone out of control. Today he pitched 8 innings for a complete game, 0-1 loss to the Angels. Impressive, though I am sure it is frustrating for him to lose that way.
The Atlanta Hawks had no defense for LeBron today. They let him connect on 15 of 25 shots. Their defense sucks and they have no size in the paint. They are clearly overmatched and they would be lucky to steal just one from the Cavs. They had big runs today and it seemed like they can keep it close. But the Cavs defense bottled them up for long stretches of the second half and LeBron was unstoppable on offense. It's time to bring on the Magic. May be they'll test the Cavs for the first time this off-season. A Boston-Cleveland series would have been great, but KG's injury seems to have killed the drama.
In the West, the refs blew a call and let Melo hit a game winning three against the Mavs. After calling all kinds of fouls and throwing people out for all kinds of offenses this post-season, the zebras failed to call a intentional "foul to give" hack on Melo. The defender stopped because he hacked Melo and was expecting a whistle and Melo continued the play and hit a game wining three. Very OUCH for Dallas. Apparently it was the same ref who refused to blow the whistle on Derek Fisher last year against the Spurs. Looks like this guy swallows his whistle at the end of games. One question I have is, did the coach screw up by not giving the refs the heads up? Coches usually do it just to be safe.
Here's a quick question for baseball fans. Who is the best pitcher in all of baseball? Not sure how many people will answer Zach Greinke. His ERA is a robust 0.51 and has 6 wins, both stats leading both the leagues. He has the KC Royals on top of the AL Central. Pretty impressive. He could be this year's Cliff Lee - a familiar, mediocre pitcher having an incredible season out of nowhere. But Zach didn't have too bad a season last year, though this year, he is gone out of control. Today he pitched 8 innings for a complete game, 0-1 loss to the Angels. Impressive, though I am sure it is frustrating for him to lose that way.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Again?
Brett Favre is in the news again. Give me a break! After all the waffling the last few years and the high-drama of last off-season, this guy is at it again. We thought he finally retired for real after a bad end to last season and the Jets drafted a QB and even cut Favre. It seems like Favre has been busy since the very next day. The Packers told the Jets they have to give them more compensation if the Jets ever traded him to teams like the Vikings and the Bears, but it's not the Jets problems if they cut him and he ends up resigning with those teams. Seems like Favre is taking advantage of this scenario now. He is supposed to meet the Vikings coach Brad Childress soon and we should all be prepared for anything.
The rumors first started when we heard that Favre has hired a personal coach and the obvious question was - for what? You don't have to be that fit to drive tractors around Mississippi. I think something is definitely cooking and I personally don't mind it. Yes, he is making a fool of himself and hurting his legacy and making new enemies in Wisconsin, but I don't care. As a NFL fan, I like the story-line and watching a good player like that play, that too for a good team like the Vikings. He is not as good as he used to be, but he is still decent and the Vikings are better than last year's Jets. I feel for Sage Resenfels. He probably thought he got a starter's job finally, but now he might lose it again to a big name, older player who may not even be as good as he is! Stay tuned I guess.
In the NBA, the Lakers and the Celtics are back in the series with wins. Kobe was unstoppable today. He dropped 40 on Battier and was jawing him all night. It should be a nightmare for people like Battier trying to defend Kobe. But the story was the physical play on both sides. Playoffs are beautiful. These guys are now literally fighting each other and the refs are busy just keeping things in check. I am happy the hatred is picking up in the second game itself. The rest of the series is going to be a war. The Celtics-Magic also had a small incident today as the Celtics won big. My man Eddie House scored 31 and got involved in some extra-curriculars with Rafer Alston. Things have been testy throughout these playoffs. Goes to show you how important the playoffs are and how hard the guys play this time of the year.
Ron Artest showed flashes of his tough, combustible and weird character both on the court against Kobe and after the game in his presser. Today he spoke about a friend who got killed by a flying piece of metal right on the court. Is he for real or is he cooking up stories to keep us all entertained? In either case, I love it.
The rumors first started when we heard that Favre has hired a personal coach and the obvious question was - for what? You don't have to be that fit to drive tractors around Mississippi. I think something is definitely cooking and I personally don't mind it. Yes, he is making a fool of himself and hurting his legacy and making new enemies in Wisconsin, but I don't care. As a NFL fan, I like the story-line and watching a good player like that play, that too for a good team like the Vikings. He is not as good as he used to be, but he is still decent and the Vikings are better than last year's Jets. I feel for Sage Resenfels. He probably thought he got a starter's job finally, but now he might lose it again to a big name, older player who may not even be as good as he is! Stay tuned I guess.
In the NBA, the Lakers and the Celtics are back in the series with wins. Kobe was unstoppable today. He dropped 40 on Battier and was jawing him all night. It should be a nightmare for people like Battier trying to defend Kobe. But the story was the physical play on both sides. Playoffs are beautiful. These guys are now literally fighting each other and the refs are busy just keeping things in check. I am happy the hatred is picking up in the second game itself. The rest of the series is going to be a war. The Celtics-Magic also had a small incident today as the Celtics won big. My man Eddie House scored 31 and got involved in some extra-curriculars with Rafer Alston. Things have been testy throughout these playoffs. Goes to show you how important the playoffs are and how hard the guys play this time of the year.
Ron Artest showed flashes of his tough, combustible and weird character both on the court against Kobe and after the game in his presser. Today he spoke about a friend who got killed by a flying piece of metal right on the court. Is he for real or is he cooking up stories to keep us all entertained? In either case, I love it.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Fakers take a step back
Houston showed us yesterday why they have to be taken seriously. They are good, they are on a roll and they might have a couple of match-up advantages over the Fakers. One game does not a series make, but the Lakers lost a big one yesterday. I still think they come back and win the series, but they lost some mojo especially if you compare them to their eventual nemesis Cavs. We all know the Lakers are good, but the question is, why are they good? They are good because they have talented big-men who are real big in size and they got Kobe. They do have good shooting, a solid bench etc., but those 2 above are the biggest reason why the Lakers are good.
Houston has an antidote to both. They got Yao, World's biggest basketball player period. And they have Ron Artest and Shane Batiier - 2 guys that can bother, if not stop Kobe. Kobe was sick yesterday and went 14/31 for 32 points, with some of the makes coming late in the game against a soft defense. He is going to be back sooner than later with or without Battier hanging all over him. I don't think he is going to stay down for long. The Lakers will win this thing, but it won't be a walk in the park like it was the previous series against Utah. Even in that series, they just didn't consistently dominate. The next 2 games will tell us whether this game 1 was just a wake-up call for the Lakers or if they are in for a real fist-fight.
Speaking of fist-fights the Boston-Chicago series ended on Sunday with a good, but not a great game 7. The Celtics are now in another struggle as they lost another game 1 - this time to the Orlando Magic. This series might be curtains for the Celtics without KG. We may get to see Dwight against LeBron in the Eastern Finals. Speaking of LeBron, the Cavs walked into the Q and spanked the Hawks today. I am amazed at how mature and solid this team is. No rust, no doubts nothing. Another 34-10 game for the newly crowned MVP and his day was done in 34 minutes. The juggernaut just keeps rolling and with every passing game, they look better than the Lakers.
I am always pulling for the Fakers to lose, but like everybody else, I also want to see a Kobe-LeBron finals. Of course I want the Lakers to lose the finals for sure. Even if they get through the Rockets, seems like the Nuggets would be good and ready for them. They are looking really impressive and are handling the Mavs rather easily. I am sure they will be challenged a lot more on the road, but they are playing with authority at home. The threes are falling, the crowd is hopping and big-shot Billups is always lurking in the background. It's amazing how much this guy has meant to this roster. What was Joe Dumars thinking when he traded him for AI? That one move might have negated all the good things Dumars has done up to this point.
Good times in the NBA. But the only think worse than not having the Suns in the playoffs, is still having Cuban and the Mavs and Joe Johnson and the Hawks around this deep in the playoffs. Of course it's not JJ's fault he is not in Phoenix. It is cheapo Robert Sarver's fault through and through. He has repeatedly refused to pay young talent any money and has even traded away draft picks consistently - guys who would have made next to nothing under David Stern's rookie scale. And then he goes and takes on Shaq's gynormous salary when he is clearly over the hill. Talk about being penny-wise and pound-foolish!
Houston has an antidote to both. They got Yao, World's biggest basketball player period. And they have Ron Artest and Shane Batiier - 2 guys that can bother, if not stop Kobe. Kobe was sick yesterday and went 14/31 for 32 points, with some of the makes coming late in the game against a soft defense. He is going to be back sooner than later with or without Battier hanging all over him. I don't think he is going to stay down for long. The Lakers will win this thing, but it won't be a walk in the park like it was the previous series against Utah. Even in that series, they just didn't consistently dominate. The next 2 games will tell us whether this game 1 was just a wake-up call for the Lakers or if they are in for a real fist-fight.
Speaking of fist-fights the Boston-Chicago series ended on Sunday with a good, but not a great game 7. The Celtics are now in another struggle as they lost another game 1 - this time to the Orlando Magic. This series might be curtains for the Celtics without KG. We may get to see Dwight against LeBron in the Eastern Finals. Speaking of LeBron, the Cavs walked into the Q and spanked the Hawks today. I am amazed at how mature and solid this team is. No rust, no doubts nothing. Another 34-10 game for the newly crowned MVP and his day was done in 34 minutes. The juggernaut just keeps rolling and with every passing game, they look better than the Lakers.
I am always pulling for the Fakers to lose, but like everybody else, I also want to see a Kobe-LeBron finals. Of course I want the Lakers to lose the finals for sure. Even if they get through the Rockets, seems like the Nuggets would be good and ready for them. They are looking really impressive and are handling the Mavs rather easily. I am sure they will be challenged a lot more on the road, but they are playing with authority at home. The threes are falling, the crowd is hopping and big-shot Billups is always lurking in the background. It's amazing how much this guy has meant to this roster. What was Joe Dumars thinking when he traded him for AI? That one move might have negated all the good things Dumars has done up to this point.
Good times in the NBA. But the only think worse than not having the Suns in the playoffs, is still having Cuban and the Mavs and Joe Johnson and the Hawks around this deep in the playoffs. Of course it's not JJ's fault he is not in Phoenix. It is cheapo Robert Sarver's fault through and through. He has repeatedly refused to pay young talent any money and has even traded away draft picks consistently - guys who would have made next to nothing under David Stern's rookie scale. And then he goes and takes on Shaq's gynormous salary when he is clearly over the hill. Talk about being penny-wise and pound-foolish!
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