We got a series ... or may be 2

The Suns got it done twice at home to tie their series up. It was an amazing home-stand for the Suns. Neither game was easy, but they made it look easier than it actually was. The key to both games was the Suns playing the zone. They had to give it a shot given how bad their defense was against the bigger Lakers. But it was surprising to see how effective the zone was. Typically, it messes up an offense for a quarter or 2 and then they adjust. It was surprising to see how effective the zone was for almost the entirety of game 3 and also through game 4. The zone helped the Suns in game 4, but not as much as their bench. The Suns bench came through again and I love how Gentry plays 5 bench guys all at the same time. I don't think I have never seen that with any coach. Definitely not with Mike D'Antoni and the Suns of the past. Not only did the Suns bench play, they played forever in the 4-Th quarter as Gentry even pulled back Nash and Amare from the scorer's table.

The spin move Dragic dropped on Fish was awesome and the highlight of game 4. And Barbosa is looking good too. If the Brazilian Blur is on, the Suns are that much better. The Suns bench really defend better and if they can score offensively, then it does make sense to keep them in ahead of even the studs like Nash and Amare - both shaky defensive players though awesome offensively. Speaking of Amare and offense, he got killed in the media for a couple of day after his performance in the first 2 games, but his 42 in game 3 shut fools up. He was unstoppable and the Suns need that on the road too if they want to win this series. The Suns will try the zone in game 5 for sure and we will see how it goes. The zone works as good as the jump shots attempted in that zone - if those are bricks, the zone "works", if they go in, the zone is busted. And of course the jump shooters always do well at home. That explains the success of the suns bench at home and that will decide what happens to their zone on the road. Can't wait for game 5.

In the East, Boston lost game 3 at home and of course lost game 4 on the road. Now all the pressure is on the Celtics. They have to win game 6 at home. Otherwise, they are looking at a game 7 on the road. Thats not something to look forward to. We now have 2 interesting series in our hands while we had none about a week back. The problem for Boston now is, they have multiple bodies in trouble - injuries, technicals etc. I am pretty sure the league will rescind one of the 2 techs handed out to Perkins. Otherwise, he is out since he has gotten his 7-Th technical. I still think Boston closes the deal in game 6. If they can't win at home, they don't deserve to win the series anyways. It will be ironic if Boston is the first team to lose a 0-3 lead after what the RedSox did in 2004. Of course the Bruins just lost a series they were leading 3-0 just 2 weeks back. But it is not unfathomable in the NHL as much as in the NBA or the MLB.

Tilting one way

The NBA playoffs this season has been surprisingly one-sided. Usually, the playoffs are tough, tight and competitive. Even if certain games are one-sided, the series usually swings back and forth and most series go 6 and a couple even go to 7 games. This year, most series don't even seem to go past 4. It's been broom-town for the most part and even the conference finals seem to be trending that way. Unfortunately, the Suns are at the receiving end of one of them mismatches though they were dishing the sweep last round. It's too early to be talking sweep in the Suns-Lakers series because they don't even play their first home game until tomorrow. I don't think there will be a sweep and I totally expect the Suns to take game 3. But they are definitely the inferior team in the series. Lakers have been toying with them so far. The Suns have no defense for Kobe, which is normal. But they don't seem to have any answer for Gasol or Odom or Bynum. Basically the Lakers are huge and are unstoppable.

The Suns problems are all at the defensive end. The Lakers have won both the games almost in identical ways. The scoreboard read 128-107 after game 1 and 124-112 after game 2. Even the Suns can't outscore their opponent if those opponents score 120+ without even really breaking a sweat. They have to figure out something to slow down the Lakers. Easier said than done, but I want to see them at least try tomorrow. Gentry has pushed all the right buttons this playoffs so far, but here is his real test. I don't know if he goes deeper into the bench or what, but he has to do something to slow down this Lakers offense. Offensively, the Suns are fine. The guys even have decent numbers because they have scored almost 110 in both games, but they have given up way more than that. Honestly, the Suns probably don't have a shot in this series. But the question is, can they make it interesting unlike the Magic.

Speaking of the Magic, they have now fallen to 0-3. That series was over the moment Magic lost both home games to go down 0-2, but still today's effort in game 3 was horrible. The Celtics are just on a roll right now and I can see all the experts picking them to win it all even against the mighty Lakers. I can see the Celtics winning it all just like 2008 though the Lakers are a better team now than they were in 2008. Celtics are tough and strong defensively and that always helps. The Magic have nowhere to go against them. Dwight Howard is great, but he is not all there yet offensively. He has a looong way to go and the Celtics have him completely bottled up. This series should be a sweep come Monday night and the Celtics may have sent 2 premier Eastern conference teams into a massive rebuild mode this off-season - the Cavs and the Magic. Match-ups always play a big role in the NBA playoffs and both these series prove this point. But if the Magic do get swept, it does raise some serious questions about Howard and the Magic. They may decide they need another alpha-dawg to improve. Howard may not be the guy, at least not offensively. He is getting exposed in this series.

Resurgent Celtics

The Celtics are back. They have gone from an aging, old team to a true championship contender in a matter of 2 weeks. They didn't do very well last year because KG was hurt. This year, it looked like they were old and on the way down. They had an inconsistent regular season and finished 11 games behind the Cavs and 9 games behind the Magic in the Eastern standings. Fourth seed just didn't seem good enough for this team. But they have been great in these playoffs. While the Magic have the impressive scoreboard, they have really not played anybody until this round. The Celtics on the other hand, have played good defense, unleashed a true superstar in Rajon Rondo and eliminated the King. The big 3 of course can't bring it day in and day out anymore, but they don't have to because they now have a big 4 and good role players.

Today, they won a huge road game to open the Eastern finals and played stellar defense. They harassed Dwight Howard and did not give him even an inch. He had to fight and struggle for everything he got and ended up a frustrated young man. They have a lot of big bodies to throw at Howard - Big Baby and Rasheed Wallace and Perkins and KG. I see the same toughness and defense that got them the championship in 2008. Carter and Jameer Nelson had decent games, but the Magic will be done if they can't get Howard untracked. It's now time for Van Gundy and Howard to come up with some adjustments for game 2. They need him at both ends of the floor to win this series. I have to pick Boston in 6 to take this one. I don't really care who wins this series, but I am a little excited to see Boston play like this because may be they are the only team that can dethrone the Lakers with their toughness and defense - just like they did in 2008.

Of course the previous sentence almost suggests that the Lakers will beat my Suns and get to the Finals. My heart say not, but my brain says probably yes to that scenario. My heart picks the Suns in 6, but my brain says Lakers in 6. The series starts tomorrow in LA and it's going to be a good one. There may be a blowout or 2, but I am sure there will be a couple of great games. The Suns need a great start tomorrow. They can't get blown out tomorrow just for their psychological well-being. They have to show to themselves and the others that they belong and can compete. They lost 3 out of 4 games during the season and in couple of those games in LA, I felt like the Suns didn't really believe they can beat the Lakers. It seemed like they were expecting to lose. They can't do that tomorrow or in any of the games this series. Hopefully, they won't suffer from that mind-set after all the success and confidence from the second half of the season and the great playoff run so far.

The Lakers have size and Kobe. Suns have no answer for either, though I am sure Grant Hill will try and even succeed sometimes in slowing down Kobe a little. Bynum's bad knee and Robin Lopez's return hopefully levels the field a little bit, but will that be enough is the real question. The big problem for the Suns is the Lakers length at both ends of the floor. It really hurts Amare at both ends. He gets in foul trouble at one ned and their length bothers him at the other. I think the Suns hopes in this series depends on Amare outplaying Pau. If Amare wins that duel, the Suns can put a lot of pressure on the Lakers. We will get some of these answers tomorrow. If the Cavs can be eliminated in the East, why can't the Suns kick the Lakers out? My hopes are up! I am going with my heart and picking the Suns to win this in 6.

Suns Sweep and the King is out!

The second round of the NBA playoffs has been sweet for me until today, when it turned a little bitter. The Suns shockingly and surprisingly swept the Spurs. I think nobody including the Suns players would have guessed they could actually sweep the Spurs. This pretty much confirms KG's words of wisdom after his championship - "anything is possible!". It was a very satisfying moment for Suns fans like me given all the heartache we have been through over the years. The final game was not without signs of some of the ugly demons coming back to haunt us. Duncan's elbow inadvertently cut open Nash's eyelid and he had to step out to stitch it up. The Spurs tie the game up when he is out and the tension escalated if you were a Suns fan. Nash came back to the bench, but his right eye was barely open. He got in the game and we could see his eye swelling up and closing down by the minute. Somehow, he still hit his shots and the Suns put the Spurs away courageously. It was indeed a proud moment. Unfortunately, the reward for such brilliance is a date with the Lakers. That team is way too big for the Suns! More on that later.

The bitter part of the second round happened today as the Cavs were eliminated today in 6 games. King James looked horrible at home in game 5 and though he had a triple double today, he didn't look too great - 8/21 shooting and 9 turnovers is not good enough. He had an unbelievably horrible night in game 5, but I was still surprised by the backlash. I thought everybody was entitled to a bad day or 2, but he is getting killed on the radio across the nation since that game 5. I don't know if it's the internet/blog culture of today or is it because of heightened sensitivity due to his upcoming free agency, I thought this one bad game got way more attention than any other bad game by other superstars in the past that I can think off. His free agency is such a big news. Now, almost everybody thinks he is a goner. Chicago is suddenly the favorite destination. He has now missed making it to the finals in both the years he has won the MVP - Nash-like. And the Cavs have fallen short of even last year's performance when they made it to the Eastern conference Finals. I guess they don't need Shaq to deal with Howard. They didn't even get to Howard. Rando made sure of that. That dude is awesome! A true triple double threat day-in and day-out. I don't know how he can get 18 rebounds at just 6'1". The game 5 loss and the series loss is almost inexplicable for the Cavs. Now they have a lot bigger problem to deal with if LeBron is not staying. It should be an interesting off-season.

Easy, breezy second round

Three of the four second round match-ups in the NBA playoffs are at 3-0. It's unusually one-sided and I am glad that the Suns are one of the teams thats ahead 3-0 on the hated Spurs. Jazz gave a tough game to the Lakers today, but they just fell one point short and an inch or two to the side as a late game tip-in that would have won the game rolled off the rim. For a couple of minutes before that, the game was played at a very high level as both teams hit shot after shot and traded the lead back and forth. It was probably the best game of the playoffs so far, but the Lakers are still up 3-0. The Magic crushed the Hawks again and they have not lost a game in the playoffs yet. They have won 7 games straight and many folks are saying they are the best team in the playoffs right now. I don't quite buy that because they have beat up so far on Charlotte and Atlanta - 2 mediocre teams in my opinion. You can't really compare them to the Lakers playing the Thunder or even the Cavs against the Celtics. The Cavs won yesterday behind a tremendous performance by the King (38-8-7) to get that series to 2-1. Ironically, Cavs, the supposed best team going into this round, are the only team not leading their series 3-0.

The most surprising and satisfying 3-0 lead is owned by the Suns. They had an amazing game yesterday that was just unbelievable to watch. We have seen this movie over and over again through the decade and the ending was always a Spurs win. But yesterday, the Suns on the road, came back from an early 18 point deficit and won by 14 points in the fourth. Thats a 32 point turnaround against the Spurs defense. Granted, the Spurs D is not what it used to be - no Bruce Bowen these days, but they are still the Spurs. But this Suns team is great. They still run and gun and with Steve and Amare, they look similar to the Mike D'Antoni teams, but this is really a different team. I love Alvin Gentry and he has definitely improved on the Mike D'Antoni blueprint. He has put the right emphasis on defense and rebounding by just mildly tweaking the players and their minutes. It's subtle, but significant because these moves have convinced Nash and Amare and everybody to work just a little bit harder on defense. The extra minutes to Jared Dudley through the season and starting Robin Lopez or even Jarron Collins now are the kind of moves that emphasizes defense and rebounding and the message has gone very well with the team.

I really doubt if D'Antoni would have ever played these bench guys the way Gentry uses them. Anytime a starter got injured, D'Antoni just couldn't wait to insert Barbosa into the starting lineup and score 10 more points and give up 15 more. I personally thought some of the defensive criticism that D'Antoni received was a little overstated. But I definitely was a big critic of his lack of use of the bench. And Gentry is proving my point everyday. The biggest difference between the two is how Gentry trusts and uses his bench. This is something he has built through the season and it is paying huge dividends right now. The only reason they won yesterday on the road was because of Goran Dragic. He dropped 26 points, all in the second half and the starters never even had to get off the bench to wrap this game up. The problem with D'Antoni was that there was just too much pressure on Nash to make things work. When you play only 5 or 6 guys, you have only 3 or 4 different things to run on offense and defense. In the playoffs, you are playing good teams and on top of that, they scheme and plot and focus on every little detail over a 7 game series. So when a great team like the spurs shut off Nash and the 3 or 4 schemes D'Antoni had, there were no answers or counter-punches.

With Gentry, it's different. He has many things to goto. He has a bench that can help him out if the starters stall. Even on defense, he relies on Hill, J-Rich, Dudley and Dragic at different points against different people and the team is just better because of all the variety and versatility. They are not great defensively, but they can get a stop or two when it matters. Same story on offense. Is Dragic as good as Nash? Of course not - except for yesterday when he looked better than Nash, Amare and Duncan combined! But Gentry lets him play with a group and lets them do what they do best and keep scoring even when Nash is on the bench. This is the point D'Antoni never got. He was over-reliant on Nash and his run-and-gun philosophy and never stopped and looked at his bench players to see how they can help. It's the job of the coach to try and leverage the strengths of the players. NBA players are very skilled and are varied in their skill level and what they bring to the table. I am really happy with what Gentry is doing with the roster he got. I think D'Antoni probably had a better bench a couple of years he was coaching the Suns, but he never let them play. If he had done that, may be the Suns would already have a championship.

Suns looking good

Suns are looking great right now. They are up 2-0 against the hated Spurs and they clearly look like the better team. Historically, the Spurs always come out and punch the Suns first in the mouth. The Suns will usually fight an uphill battle and scratch and claw their way back into the series only to eventually lose it in 6 or 7. I think the tables are turned this year. The Suns are the better team and they have punched the Spurs in the mouth twice in the first 2 games. It's now up to the Spurs to respond and they probably will, but the Suns definitely are the favorites to win the series now. They look like the more talented team and they are not scared or intimidated by the Spurs. Today, they came out with their "Los Suns" jerseys and made both a political and a basketball statement on the court. I was surprised by the openly "anti-immigration-bill" stand that the Suns owner Sarver took, because businesses usually don't take sides on such things. They are always on the side of the almighty dollars. But I guess the NBA fan base is so heavily colored, young, liberal and democratic that Sarver did the right thing, both morally and financially. Coach Pop also came out and ripped the bill. He sounds like a big liberal and even took a shot at the patriot act.

In the other series, Atlanta looked like dogs in their game 1 against the Magic and Cleveland didn't look much better in their game 2. Lots of talk about King James's elbow. Hopefully, it's not too bad. He is going to have a third MRI to make sure things are fine. I think Cleveland will be fine and wrap things up in 6 or 7. But the Hawks-Magic series is a dog and I hope it ends soon. The Lakers-Utah series is not that great either. Jerry Sloan's teams are usually tough and good defensively. This team is tough, but they are not good defensively. He just doesn't have the horses to play D like he wants to. Having AK-47 back for game 3 will help, but so far, the Lakers have gotten whatever they want. They have no answers for Kobe, but then again no team has an answer to Kobe. But this Jazz team has no answers to anybody on the Lakers roster including Luke Walton! Every single Laker looks bigger than every single Jazz player - except Deron Williams on D-Fish. The size on this Lakers team is just amazing. They are too big and are abusing the Jazz in the paint. Pau Gasol is blocking shots like he is Dwight Howard. I think this series ends in 5 unless AK-47 does a job on Kobe - very unlikely considering he is coming back from injury and who knows what percentage he is at.

By the way, what happened to Barry Zito? Seems like he is back!

Suns-Spurs

I should have known better. Of course it's going to come down to the Suns-Spurs series for the Suns if they are any good. And they are very good this season. Starting Monday, we will all watch another tantalizing series between these two teams who have enthralled us with many such series over the last 6 years. I don't expect this series to be any different except for the eventual result. I totally expect the Suns to win this year though the Spurs are always a tough out in the playoffs. The Mavs found this out the hard way last week even as the 2-Nd seed playing the supposedly 7-Th best team in the West. There is a saying that we should be careful what we wish for because we might just get our wish! I was actually so impressed with the Mavs late in the regular season, I was scared of the Suns playing them. Because of the Nash-centered rivalry and how he used to kill them a few years back, I feel the Mavs get up for the Suns and with all the talent this year, I was not confident that the Suns can handle the Mavs talent, emotional surge and their home court in these playoffs. So I was pulling for the Spurs to beat the Mavs and get to the Suns. That has happened now and I am beginning to get a little jittery given the history.

I feel like the emotional dynamics in a Suns-Spurs match-up is the revere of the Mavs-Suns series. The Suns fight like the wounded underdog against the Spurs because they are. They get up for them and though the results have not always been favorable in the playoffs so far, this regular season has been pretty good for the Suns against these Spurs. I understand these playoffs are different, especially for the veteran Spurs team, but I still like the Suns chances. Amare always plays well against the Spurs. Timmy is great, but he seems a little slowed down these days. Also there is no Bruce Bowen to molest Nash full-court. In fact, I have always believed Bowen's absence is one of their issues this season and I am hoping the Suns and Nash take advantage of it. I am sure Pop will find someone else to harass him and Nash didn't look all that great against even the Blazers, but Bowen's absence should be good news for the MP3. Nash needs to play better. Too many turnovers against playoff caliber defenses and a tired, end-of-the-season body always hurts him in the playoffs, but if he plays smart, the Suns should be good. The team as a whole did well against the Blazers and I am happy they put them to bed in 6 even after losing game 1 at home. Thats a sign of a mature team. Lets hope the Suns prove me right on Monday. They can't lose game 1 to the Spurs at home. Just like the Sox against the Yanks in 2004, the Suns have to go through the Spurs if they ever want to win a ring. Thats the only way to reverse the curse!

LeBron James has won his second MVP in a row. Very deserving I might add. No arguments here. The Cavs will beat the Celtics and go forward. The series might take a while, but will work out for the Cavs. In the other Eastern series, the Bucks now have to go on the road and play a game 7. They lost a golden opportunity at home yesterday. Utah did not do the same mistake and took care of the Nuggets. It's amazing what Utah did with the guys on that roster. Goes to show how much you can do with a couple of studs and a great coach and system. My only regret there is, the talent, size and the thugs on the Denver roster would have given the Lakers more trouble than the Jazz would. It should be a relatively easy series for the Lakers right now against the Jazz. The Lakers did close out the Thunder on the road. They proved me right. The Thunder played very well and what they did was impressive, but it was much ado about nothing. A young team like that cannot beat the Lakers in a 3 game series with 2 games in LA. The best case scenario or them was to force a 7 game series, but that didn't happen. Durant was totally off, but the Thunder still almost won the game. It is an awesome team and I am scared of them as a fan of a fellow Western conference team. The future is theirs for the taking as long as Durant keeps getting better.