Lottery Leftovers and thoughts on Kobe Bryant and Baseball's commish
The Boston Celtics finished last season with the 2nd worst record in the NBA. They rightfully earned that status from management to coaching and straight down to the players. General Manager Danny Ainge traded a lottery pick that could have drafted impressive rookies Randy Foye or Rudy Gay. For his trouble, he acquired Sebastian Telfair. The best thing you could say about Telfair's only season as a Celtic was that he was an expert marksman. The worst thing you can say is that he was an alleged felon two times over.
Celtic head coach Doc Rivers disinguished himself by executing one the ugliest tanking jobs the league has ever seen, ranking right up there with Bill Fitch's 83-84 Rockets who mailed it in for the right to select the great Hakeem Olajuwon. And the players at time acted like they did not want to be in the gym, let alone on the floor playing the game. So, when the 38% chance they had "earned" to get one of the first two picks in this year's draft (i.e Oden or Durant) blew up in smoke at last year's draft lottery, logic would dictate that the organization got exactly what they deserved. Yet since last week, Celtic fans are acting like they got screwed out of their birthright.
One would think that 7 NBA championships spanning a 19 year period from 1967 to 1986 would be something that would satisfy a fan base for a lifetime. Yet, when you read the nation's foremost Celtic apologist, ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmons, he is referring to this year's lottery as "the tragic events of 5/22. " The prevailing thought is that the Celtics got shafted 10 years ago when the Spurs won the right to select Tim Duncan. And that line of thinking is simply misguided idiotic naive nonsense.
The Celtics fortunes were scarred for generations with the hiring of suppossed franchise savior at the time, Rick Pitino. A lot of Celtic fans would disagree wuth this, pointing to the tragic deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. But the reality is that the franchise was well positioned to return to prominence until Slick Rick came in and took over. His first order of business was to insist on the title of President of the team. But there was one problem. That title was already
taken by basketball icon Red Auerbach. Whether Auerbach was active in the personnel department was immaterial. He had earned that title for life with his championship resume. But Pitino's ego was so out of control before he ever won a game as Celtics' coach, he insisted on the title of President, his autonomous power and enormous contract not withstanding. This started the Celtics' luck of the irish on a downhill path.
Pitino's first year as Celtic Basketball Czar was 1997. In the 97 draft, the Celtics had the #3 and #6 picks. Despite the fact that the Tim Duncan ping pong ball eluded them, this still represented an enormous opportunity to upgrade the roster. With the #3 pick, Pitino selected Chauncey Billups, a point guard from the University Colorado. This turned out to be a great draft pick as Billups is the floor leader for a team that is currently making its 5th straight appearance in the Eastern Conference finals with one NBA title to their credit. For the Celtics, there is one major problem. Slick Rick traded Billups half way through his rookie year. He used the #6 pick on Ron Mercer. Mercer was a career journeyman who never actually stuck anywhere. His career highlights came while he was at the University of Kentucky came when his coach was none other than Rick Pitino. And the #9 pick in that same draft was Tracy McGrady. At that time, the rumors leading up to the draft had Pitino selecting McGrady. After the draft Pitino admitted that McGrady was a strong consideration, but he was looking for players who could make more of an immediate impact. Patience did not prove to be Slick Rick's strong suit.
In 1978, Red Auerbach used the #6 pick in the draft on a junior named Larry Bird, even though Bird was not going to play for the Celtics until the following season. Auerbach knew that when your goal is to build a champion, patience is an essential element. The Celtics fortunes haven't turned unlucky. Their fortunes changed when they sold out the greatest basketball executive in history for a good college coach who conned ownership out of millions.
And the current regime appears just as bad. So the good news for the Celtic fans on missing out on Oden and Durant is that they are virtually guaranteed to have plenty of ping pong balls in next year's lottery.
Kobe Bryant had a pretty busy week. In the last 7 days, Bryant has demanded the Lakers to "surround him with a better team.", demanded that Mitch Kupchak relinquish his job as general manager to Jerry West, (Kupchak and West are close friends), publicly blamed Laker owner Jerry Buss for the Shaquille O'Neal trade, demanded to be traded himself, and recanted said trade demand. He actually had a good idea sprinkled in there. Its time for the Lakers to cut bait and get out from under the nightmare that Bryant has morphed into.
Before I even address the on court problems Bryant has created, I feel the need to address what a disgusting ingrate Kobe is as a human being. This organization that he has publicly embarrassed on every management level is the same organization that stood by him while he went on trial for rape. They flew him back and forth from the trial in Colorado for practices and games. They did not require him to participate in all team meetings, practices, and activities, even when he wasn't in court. At no time did they hold him accountable for the irresponsible actions that put him in that tenuous legal position in the first place. When his contract expired they offerred him the maximum amount of money league regulations would allow. When he wanted Phil Jackson back as coach, they went and got him. And Kobe respects their loyalty by going on a public verbal assault. If you owned an NBA team, would you want this kind of guy as the face of your organization? I know I wouldn't.
The next issue he created here is how do you now go back into a locker room with your teammates. What he pretty much said here in not so many words is that the rest of these guys stink. And although the shoe fits in more than a few instances, there are also more than a few players that have a right to be mighty ticked off. In my humble opinion, Lamar Odom is one of the top 20 players in the NBA. He does everything well on the floor and he's 6'10". Odom's best attribute is his ability to pass. He is especially effective offensively when he plays with players that share the basketball. The reality is that the Lakers have their 2nd star. Kobe Bryant is too much of a selfish pig to play with him.
So now Kobe has placed himself and the Lakers in the unique position of Kobe actually having more value to the Lakers off their team as oppossed to on their team. It doesn't matter how much talent an individual player has. If that talent cannot be applied within the framework of a team concept, there is a ceiling on how much that talent translates to winning games. Combine Kobe's genral difficulty of working within a team concept and the significant fact that he just alienated every teammate he currently has, and you get an impossible environment for the Lakers to succeed.
Keeping in mind that the Lakers best stretch of the 2005-2006 season was the 20 game period Kobe was on the injured list, there are a few tremendous options for the Lakers to build around Odom. Kobe to the Houston Rockets for a Tracy McGrady package is one viable option. McGrady has become a much more mature player and in turn a much less selfish one. His skills translate very well into Phil Jackson's triangle offense. if the Lakers could grab a pick and/or more cap space as well in a deal like this, all the better. Kobe to the Chicago Bulls is another option. If the Lakers could get Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, it would completely reinvigorate their youth movement and make them great again much faster. Because if the Lakers keep going this way, greatness is not imminent anytime soon. Its starting to appear that any sentence that includes Kobe Bryant and the word greatness should include the name Shaquille O'Neal as well.
As baseball season swings toward summer, Barry Bonds inches closer and closer to baseball's most hallowed record, most career home runs. A record held by the great Hank Aaron. Under different circumstances, baseball would be celebrating this record with unprecedented fanfare. Instead, when broached on the issue, baseball's commissioner treats the issue like Tony Soprano treats a RICO investigation.
Selig has gone to lengths in the last few years to try to bring accountablility for the steroids epidemic. He's hired George Mitchell to head up a federal investigation and rumors are abound that Mitchell has gathered enough information to start naming names. So now that major league baseball is holding the offenders accountable, what about the people who condoned rampant steroid use. People like Bud Selig.
Selig has not yet announced that he will be in attendance the day that Barry Bonds is about to break the record. Yet, when McGwire and Sosa were breaking records in 98, Bud was everywhere. The point that appears to escape Commissioner Selig is that the steroids era happened on his watch. That makes him accountable. And since the players who are proven to be steroid users will presumably be subject to some sort of league discipline, shouldn't Selig be disciplined as well. He sold out the integrity of the record book in exchange for revenue growth. Maybe a worthwhile tradeoff in the end, maybe not. But if he starts doling out punishment, start in the mirror. And what better way for Bud to punish himself than to have to publicly congratulate Barry Bonds and his oversized head in person on the day he breaks the record. Thats what Selig gets for looking the other way.
One last note: I will refrain from commenting on LeBron James' tour de force Game 5 in the Eastern Conference finals until we see who actually wins the series.
Giddyap.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Thoughts about the NBA Lottery, LeBron James, and the New York Yankees
So earlier this week, the most relevant NBA lottery in this decade took place, solely because of the presence of potential superstars Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. And it certainly seems as though these two players will play big roles in attempting to turn around two once proud franchises in Portland and Seattle. But there are two other things that jumped out at me in the time before, during, and after the lottery.
The Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns are two playoff teams who are both close to being title contenders next season. Yet, when we looked up last Tuesday night at 8:3o, there they both were in the mix for lottery picks. The Bulls even had a small chance at Oden or Durant. How does this happen you ask? In the words of Forrest Gump, " Stupid is as stupid does."
The Suns procured their potential lottery pick through the trade of Joe Johnson to the Atlanta Hawks. Joe Johnson is a very good NBA player who is extremely hard to defend at three positions. It certainly would not be a stretch to consider him an All-Star. And since the Hawks had cap space ansd the Suns were up against the luxury tax, a deal made sense. So the Hawks, who were bidding against no one, give up Boris Diaw and 1st round draft pick. Not only did Diaw fit on the Suns much better than Johnson, now the Suns would have an opportunity to add a young impact player. The only good news is that Hawks GM Billy Knight made the pick top 3 protected, which took the Suns out of the mix for Oden or Durant. And since the Hawks got the 3rd pick in the lottery, the Suns have to wait unitl next year's draft to reload. This deal was so bad that one of part owners of the Hawks took the other part owners to court to have it overturned. But the again, this is the same general manager who passed on two of the best 5 point guards in the NBA in Deron Williams and Chris Paul, to select Marvin Williams when he drafted two guys the year before who play the same small forward position in Josh Childress and Josh Smith. And then to bring us full circle, Joe Johnson's strongest position??? Small forward. Billy Knight has established himself as the NBA's version of Matt Millen. A lucky version at that, with 2 lottery picks whne he only deserved 1.
The Bulls unprotected lottery pick came about through a slightly different route. Their young center Eddy Curry was diagnosed with a heart issue. The Bulls felt he wasn't fit to play professional basketball. Curry and his agent felt differently. So the stage was set for Curry to be dealt. Enter the Basketball Czar of the New York Knicks, Isiah Thomas. Thomas was able to acquire Curry and Antonio Davis for Michael Sweetney, Tim Thomas and two #1 draft picks after the Knicks had already invested 30 million over 5 years in Jerome James after he had one good playoff series in a creere spanning 4 seasons. At the time, Isiah vitually broke his arm patting himself on the back lauding the trade as a steal. He felt like it was the type of deal that would turn around the franchise. The main reason is that Isiah never figured the two first rounders would be lottery picks. His oversized ego got the best of him on this one and the New York Knicks organization paid a dear price.
Now don't get me wrong. Curry is a nice big player. He has a very good post game and is a decent rebounder when he wants to be. But he has lead feet and generally doesn't miss a meal. And defensively, referring to him as a liability is probably being a bit kind. What compounds this is that the year before Thomas makes the trade, he drafts Channing Frye, a polished offensive player with slow feet who needs to double up on a couple of meals, And defensively, Rerun from Whats Happening would be a tough matchup. Does any of this sound familiar? The closest thing to chemistry that Curry and Frye have with one another in the frontcourt is their physical resemblance to the number 10. Common sense in building a basketball team generally dictates the if the power forward or center needs the ball to be effective, the other one shouldn't. So the Knicks lose a chance at Tyrus Thomas last year and the chance at Joakim Noah or Jeff Green this year for an overweight one dimensional center with a heart condition. Maybe Knick fans will get lucky and Dolan will hijack Billy Knight from the Hawks.
LeBron James has received a lot of heat this week for his failure to generate game winning shots for his team with the game on the line twice this week in the Eastern Conference finals versus the Detroit Pistons. In Game 1, LeBron committed the cardinal sin of actually passing to an open teammate as oppossed to taking a shot closer to the rim with a defender breathing down on him. And then in Game 2, LeBron got into the paint, and missed a leaner as he unsuccessfully tried to draw a foul on Rip Hamilton.
Every national radio or TV sports show that covers the NBA has had a talking head of some sort has had some so called expert criticize LeBron for not making the right decisions. Jeff Van Gundy has it right when he says that critics look at the result and work back from there. If Donyell Marshall hits the jump shot in Game 1, LeBron is an unselfish winner. But because Marshall misses the wide open 3, LeBron is a guy who can't win in the playoffs. Here's the thing. He's only a 22 year old kid. Watch in the huddle late in games. He's chomping his fingernails like a 16 year old taking the SATs. And on top of that, he's surrounded with over the hill veterans like Eric Snow, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Damon Jones. Larry Hughes plays like he's jealous of LeBron. Its almost like the two of them are playing parralel basketball. Drew Gooden is useless in a big spot. In these first two games, Rasheed Wallace absolutley dominated Gooden in crunch time. The only guys on this team he's capable of leading are Daniel Gibson, Anderson Varejao, and Sasha Pavlovic. And I have to believe the primary reason for the latter two is probably the language barrier. With all this said, maybe someone should give the kid a little credit for carrying this motley team into the Eastern Conference finals.
Anyone who has been exposed to New York talk radio the last couple of weeks has had overexposure to the ridiculous media created issue, " Are the Yankees finished this year?"
Now I completely understand that it is quite uncommon to see the Yankees 3 games below .500 towards the end of May. And 9 1/2 games out of first place is a whole lot. But someone please find me a team that is more capable of winning 20 games a month for the next 3 months. Last time I checked, they still had a pitching staff with Cy Young runner up Chien-Mien Wang, Andy Pettite and his 2.66 ERA, with the imminent return of Roger Clemens.
Don't get me wrong, there still are problems. But some will be solved. The odds are in favor of Mussina turning it around. Abreu is not going to hit like this all season. Rivera may not go back to being dominant, but he will find his way towards effective. Cano will hit. He's got too much talent. The only real long term problems are Damon and the bullpen. Damon's best asset is his legs, and they're starting to break down on him. And the Yankees are commintted to two more years at 13 million per year AFTER this year. The bullpen mess will be solved the way the Yankees solve all of their problems. Steinbrenner will throw some money at it.
Now if Giambi will just shut his big fat piehole...........
Giddyap!
So earlier this week, the most relevant NBA lottery in this decade took place, solely because of the presence of potential superstars Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. And it certainly seems as though these two players will play big roles in attempting to turn around two once proud franchises in Portland and Seattle. But there are two other things that jumped out at me in the time before, during, and after the lottery.
The Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns are two playoff teams who are both close to being title contenders next season. Yet, when we looked up last Tuesday night at 8:3o, there they both were in the mix for lottery picks. The Bulls even had a small chance at Oden or Durant. How does this happen you ask? In the words of Forrest Gump, " Stupid is as stupid does."
The Suns procured their potential lottery pick through the trade of Joe Johnson to the Atlanta Hawks. Joe Johnson is a very good NBA player who is extremely hard to defend at three positions. It certainly would not be a stretch to consider him an All-Star. And since the Hawks had cap space ansd the Suns were up against the luxury tax, a deal made sense. So the Hawks, who were bidding against no one, give up Boris Diaw and 1st round draft pick. Not only did Diaw fit on the Suns much better than Johnson, now the Suns would have an opportunity to add a young impact player. The only good news is that Hawks GM Billy Knight made the pick top 3 protected, which took the Suns out of the mix for Oden or Durant. And since the Hawks got the 3rd pick in the lottery, the Suns have to wait unitl next year's draft to reload. This deal was so bad that one of part owners of the Hawks took the other part owners to court to have it overturned. But the again, this is the same general manager who passed on two of the best 5 point guards in the NBA in Deron Williams and Chris Paul, to select Marvin Williams when he drafted two guys the year before who play the same small forward position in Josh Childress and Josh Smith. And then to bring us full circle, Joe Johnson's strongest position??? Small forward. Billy Knight has established himself as the NBA's version of Matt Millen. A lucky version at that, with 2 lottery picks whne he only deserved 1.
The Bulls unprotected lottery pick came about through a slightly different route. Their young center Eddy Curry was diagnosed with a heart issue. The Bulls felt he wasn't fit to play professional basketball. Curry and his agent felt differently. So the stage was set for Curry to be dealt. Enter the Basketball Czar of the New York Knicks, Isiah Thomas. Thomas was able to acquire Curry and Antonio Davis for Michael Sweetney, Tim Thomas and two #1 draft picks after the Knicks had already invested 30 million over 5 years in Jerome James after he had one good playoff series in a creere spanning 4 seasons. At the time, Isiah vitually broke his arm patting himself on the back lauding the trade as a steal. He felt like it was the type of deal that would turn around the franchise. The main reason is that Isiah never figured the two first rounders would be lottery picks. His oversized ego got the best of him on this one and the New York Knicks organization paid a dear price.
Now don't get me wrong. Curry is a nice big player. He has a very good post game and is a decent rebounder when he wants to be. But he has lead feet and generally doesn't miss a meal. And defensively, referring to him as a liability is probably being a bit kind. What compounds this is that the year before Thomas makes the trade, he drafts Channing Frye, a polished offensive player with slow feet who needs to double up on a couple of meals, And defensively, Rerun from Whats Happening would be a tough matchup. Does any of this sound familiar? The closest thing to chemistry that Curry and Frye have with one another in the frontcourt is their physical resemblance to the number 10. Common sense in building a basketball team generally dictates the if the power forward or center needs the ball to be effective, the other one shouldn't. So the Knicks lose a chance at Tyrus Thomas last year and the chance at Joakim Noah or Jeff Green this year for an overweight one dimensional center with a heart condition. Maybe Knick fans will get lucky and Dolan will hijack Billy Knight from the Hawks.
LeBron James has received a lot of heat this week for his failure to generate game winning shots for his team with the game on the line twice this week in the Eastern Conference finals versus the Detroit Pistons. In Game 1, LeBron committed the cardinal sin of actually passing to an open teammate as oppossed to taking a shot closer to the rim with a defender breathing down on him. And then in Game 2, LeBron got into the paint, and missed a leaner as he unsuccessfully tried to draw a foul on Rip Hamilton.
Every national radio or TV sports show that covers the NBA has had a talking head of some sort has had some so called expert criticize LeBron for not making the right decisions. Jeff Van Gundy has it right when he says that critics look at the result and work back from there. If Donyell Marshall hits the jump shot in Game 1, LeBron is an unselfish winner. But because Marshall misses the wide open 3, LeBron is a guy who can't win in the playoffs. Here's the thing. He's only a 22 year old kid. Watch in the huddle late in games. He's chomping his fingernails like a 16 year old taking the SATs. And on top of that, he's surrounded with over the hill veterans like Eric Snow, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Damon Jones. Larry Hughes plays like he's jealous of LeBron. Its almost like the two of them are playing parralel basketball. Drew Gooden is useless in a big spot. In these first two games, Rasheed Wallace absolutley dominated Gooden in crunch time. The only guys on this team he's capable of leading are Daniel Gibson, Anderson Varejao, and Sasha Pavlovic. And I have to believe the primary reason for the latter two is probably the language barrier. With all this said, maybe someone should give the kid a little credit for carrying this motley team into the Eastern Conference finals.
Anyone who has been exposed to New York talk radio the last couple of weeks has had overexposure to the ridiculous media created issue, " Are the Yankees finished this year?"
Now I completely understand that it is quite uncommon to see the Yankees 3 games below .500 towards the end of May. And 9 1/2 games out of first place is a whole lot. But someone please find me a team that is more capable of winning 20 games a month for the next 3 months. Last time I checked, they still had a pitching staff with Cy Young runner up Chien-Mien Wang, Andy Pettite and his 2.66 ERA, with the imminent return of Roger Clemens.
Don't get me wrong, there still are problems. But some will be solved. The odds are in favor of Mussina turning it around. Abreu is not going to hit like this all season. Rivera may not go back to being dominant, but he will find his way towards effective. Cano will hit. He's got too much talent. The only real long term problems are Damon and the bullpen. Damon's best asset is his legs, and they're starting to break down on him. And the Yankees are commintted to two more years at 13 million per year AFTER this year. The bullpen mess will be solved the way the Yankees solve all of their problems. Steinbrenner will throw some money at it.
Now if Giambi will just shut his big fat piehole...........
Giddyap!
Friday, May 18, 2007
I'm back after a long, but effective hiatus. On to business.
Before I get to the on court business of the NBA in May of 2007, let me discuss some off court activity that has transpired, namely, The Traveling Van Gundy Brothers.
The lead NBA headline today was the firing of one of the better coaches in the world in Jeff Van Gundy. On one hand it appears totally logical. He never won a playoff series in 3 playoff appearences within 4 years. He had 3 years with two of the league's Top 15 players in Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming and achieved zero success. However those that spent a little time watching the Houston Rockets know the understand the deck that Jeff had stacked against him.
His first year, he was saddled with the Artist Formerly Known as Steve Francis, who believed he was a superstar. The two problems were that he never was a superstar and by the time Jeff got there Stevie's game was in steep decline. The following 2 years he had Yao, McGrady and a glorified CBA roster. Only this past season did they add Shane Battier and give him a player who plays Jeff's way. They won 52 games and got beat in Game 7 in a 4-5 series in a deep, difficult Western conference. His franchise player, McGrady, publicly campaigns for his return. It looks like they're ready to turn the corner, right? Not for owner Les Alexander.
Essentially, Jeff had to fall on his own sword. They told him he could keep his job if he switched his coaching style to "up-tempo." I guess no one reminded ole Les that you need a Steve Nash or Jason Kidd type of point guard to play that style successfully. One thing Jeff knows is that it ain't happening with Rafer Alston as his point guard. So he tells management, I coach my way. If you want up-tempo, hire another coach. So Van Gundy gets canned pride in tact.
Even though it appears that Jeff is prepared to spend a significant amount of time in the broadcast booth, I believe that there is a currently occupied head coaching job that would fit him perfectly. That job is the New Jersey Nets. Lawrence Frank is an OK coach. H certainly has a decent feel for defense. But his halfcourt offense is abysmal. With no big post presence, Frank has a unique opportunityto post up his three big perimeter players, Kidd Carter, and Jefferson. Every night, at least one of them has a size mismatch. Yet the majority of their field goal attempts are perimeter jump shots.
The last team that I saw overachieve from posting up big guards was the 1999 New York Knicks who went to an NBA final with a halfcourt offense primarily composed of posting up big guards Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell . The coach of those 1999 Knicks??? Jeff Van Gundy. Playoff basketball hasn't changed. It still is and will always be a half court game.
It has been reported that Jeff's older brother Stan has interviewed for the openings in Charlotte, Indiana, and Sacramento. You remember Stan, don't you? He's the coach that took over the Miami Heat when Pat Riley decided there wasn't enough talent to win. So Stan developed his young talent, (Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Charles Barkley's love child, Dwyane Wade), got them into the 2nd round of the playoffs in his 2nd year, and set them up to make the Shaq trade. And right about the time the Heat are ready to compete for a championship, he steps down to "spend more time with his family." And who takes over, but Pat Riley. They can spin that one any way they want but Riles is coaching that team with blood stains on his hands.
So now Stan is in the mix for another well deserved chance. If you're reading Stan, don't touch that Indiana job. They are a mess. Anchored by an unhappy superstar in Jermaine O'Neal, and no supporting cast, the Pacers are going no where fast. By the way, special credit for this mess goes to Larry Bird, proving by the shadow of a doubt that he was a much better player, and even a better coach than he is a basketball executive. That organization is yet to recover from his brutal mishandling of the enigma known as Ron Artest, who is the NBA';s version of Tony Soprano.
Back to Stan. Stan, if they offer you the Charlotte job, take it. You've got a good young point guard in Ray Felton. A legit defensive big man in Emeka Okafor if you can keep him on the court. They will have a high lottery pick in this year's very deep draft. And they've got cap space galore. It represents a chance to mold something in his own image without the Riley shadow. Which is really all a Traveling Van Gundy brother could ever want.
This year's NBA playoffs have been drmatically unremarkable. But there are still a few things going on that warrant mentioning.
Firstly, I can't figure out for the life of me how a role player like Bruce Bowen can get away with being the dirtiest player in this league in the last 15 years. The knee he implanted in Steve Nash's genitals was one of the nastiest, unnecessary acts I've ever seen on a basketball court. Which begs the question, does Bowen have pictures of David Stern or Stu Jackson at a bachelor party? They suspended Kobe Bryant twice this year for landing hiis arm on a defender's head while taking a jump shot, but Bowen can mutilate Nash family jewels with impunity??
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the Stoudemire and Diaw suspensions. Those rules about leaving the bench are necessary an important, especially in the playoffs. Remember, Steven Jackson played in 2 rounds this year. Any league that employs Steven Jackson always runs the risk of him starting a riot in any game he plays in. But I digress. Bowen gets away with murder. And in a league that employs rules that suspend guys for doing a lot less, it has to be time that Bowen has outlasted any benefit of the doubt he's afforded.
With that said, there is a great story going on that not enough people are paying attention to, the Utah Jazz. Their general manager, Kevin O'Connor has put together a brilliant mix of young players and sprinkled in veterans nicely. 3 years ago, he invested his enormous cap space in Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur to man the center and power forward positions. While at the time, these two appeared grossly overpaid, their pairing has been a stroke of pure genius. they completely compliment each other on both ends of the floor. Offensively, Boozer plays in the post and Okur hangs on the perimeter firing (and making) threes. Defensively, Okur takes the tough inside matchup and Boozer helps out and cleans up the glass. The Jazz also sprt the best point guard no one ever pays attention to in Deron Williams. This guy looks like a young version of Jason Kidd, yet he rarely turns it over, and he can shoot. I would also be remiss if I did mot mention their outstanding coach, Jerry Sloan. The Jazz play hard, smart disciplined, and unselfishly. Everyone seems to know their role. They are as well coached a basketball team as you will see in the league. The Spurs will get all they can handle.
More to come soon. Thanks for reading.
Before I get to the on court business of the NBA in May of 2007, let me discuss some off court activity that has transpired, namely, The Traveling Van Gundy Brothers.
The lead NBA headline today was the firing of one of the better coaches in the world in Jeff Van Gundy. On one hand it appears totally logical. He never won a playoff series in 3 playoff appearences within 4 years. He had 3 years with two of the league's Top 15 players in Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming and achieved zero success. However those that spent a little time watching the Houston Rockets know the understand the deck that Jeff had stacked against him.
His first year, he was saddled with the Artist Formerly Known as Steve Francis, who believed he was a superstar. The two problems were that he never was a superstar and by the time Jeff got there Stevie's game was in steep decline. The following 2 years he had Yao, McGrady and a glorified CBA roster. Only this past season did they add Shane Battier and give him a player who plays Jeff's way. They won 52 games and got beat in Game 7 in a 4-5 series in a deep, difficult Western conference. His franchise player, McGrady, publicly campaigns for his return. It looks like they're ready to turn the corner, right? Not for owner Les Alexander.
Essentially, Jeff had to fall on his own sword. They told him he could keep his job if he switched his coaching style to "up-tempo." I guess no one reminded ole Les that you need a Steve Nash or Jason Kidd type of point guard to play that style successfully. One thing Jeff knows is that it ain't happening with Rafer Alston as his point guard. So he tells management, I coach my way. If you want up-tempo, hire another coach. So Van Gundy gets canned pride in tact.
Even though it appears that Jeff is prepared to spend a significant amount of time in the broadcast booth, I believe that there is a currently occupied head coaching job that would fit him perfectly. That job is the New Jersey Nets. Lawrence Frank is an OK coach. H certainly has a decent feel for defense. But his halfcourt offense is abysmal. With no big post presence, Frank has a unique opportunityto post up his three big perimeter players, Kidd Carter, and Jefferson. Every night, at least one of them has a size mismatch. Yet the majority of their field goal attempts are perimeter jump shots.
The last team that I saw overachieve from posting up big guards was the 1999 New York Knicks who went to an NBA final with a halfcourt offense primarily composed of posting up big guards Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell . The coach of those 1999 Knicks??? Jeff Van Gundy. Playoff basketball hasn't changed. It still is and will always be a half court game.
It has been reported that Jeff's older brother Stan has interviewed for the openings in Charlotte, Indiana, and Sacramento. You remember Stan, don't you? He's the coach that took over the Miami Heat when Pat Riley decided there wasn't enough talent to win. So Stan developed his young talent, (Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Charles Barkley's love child, Dwyane Wade), got them into the 2nd round of the playoffs in his 2nd year, and set them up to make the Shaq trade. And right about the time the Heat are ready to compete for a championship, he steps down to "spend more time with his family." And who takes over, but Pat Riley. They can spin that one any way they want but Riles is coaching that team with blood stains on his hands.
So now Stan is in the mix for another well deserved chance. If you're reading Stan, don't touch that Indiana job. They are a mess. Anchored by an unhappy superstar in Jermaine O'Neal, and no supporting cast, the Pacers are going no where fast. By the way, special credit for this mess goes to Larry Bird, proving by the shadow of a doubt that he was a much better player, and even a better coach than he is a basketball executive. That organization is yet to recover from his brutal mishandling of the enigma known as Ron Artest, who is the NBA';s version of Tony Soprano.
Back to Stan. Stan, if they offer you the Charlotte job, take it. You've got a good young point guard in Ray Felton. A legit defensive big man in Emeka Okafor if you can keep him on the court. They will have a high lottery pick in this year's very deep draft. And they've got cap space galore. It represents a chance to mold something in his own image without the Riley shadow. Which is really all a Traveling Van Gundy brother could ever want.
This year's NBA playoffs have been drmatically unremarkable. But there are still a few things going on that warrant mentioning.
Firstly, I can't figure out for the life of me how a role player like Bruce Bowen can get away with being the dirtiest player in this league in the last 15 years. The knee he implanted in Steve Nash's genitals was one of the nastiest, unnecessary acts I've ever seen on a basketball court. Which begs the question, does Bowen have pictures of David Stern or Stu Jackson at a bachelor party? They suspended Kobe Bryant twice this year for landing hiis arm on a defender's head while taking a jump shot, but Bowen can mutilate Nash family jewels with impunity??
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the Stoudemire and Diaw suspensions. Those rules about leaving the bench are necessary an important, especially in the playoffs. Remember, Steven Jackson played in 2 rounds this year. Any league that employs Steven Jackson always runs the risk of him starting a riot in any game he plays in. But I digress. Bowen gets away with murder. And in a league that employs rules that suspend guys for doing a lot less, it has to be time that Bowen has outlasted any benefit of the doubt he's afforded.
With that said, there is a great story going on that not enough people are paying attention to, the Utah Jazz. Their general manager, Kevin O'Connor has put together a brilliant mix of young players and sprinkled in veterans nicely. 3 years ago, he invested his enormous cap space in Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur to man the center and power forward positions. While at the time, these two appeared grossly overpaid, their pairing has been a stroke of pure genius. they completely compliment each other on both ends of the floor. Offensively, Boozer plays in the post and Okur hangs on the perimeter firing (and making) threes. Defensively, Okur takes the tough inside matchup and Boozer helps out and cleans up the glass. The Jazz also sprt the best point guard no one ever pays attention to in Deron Williams. This guy looks like a young version of Jason Kidd, yet he rarely turns it over, and he can shoot. I would also be remiss if I did mot mention their outstanding coach, Jerry Sloan. The Jazz play hard, smart disciplined, and unselfishly. Everyone seems to know their role. They are as well coached a basketball team as you will see in the league. The Spurs will get all they can handle.
More to come soon. Thanks for reading.
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