We're about halfway through two of the most entertaining conference finals. Time to break it all down. But first a quick blanket statement about the way these teams play......



Too many 3 point shot attempts. Everyone. Stop the madness.



We see threes of the dribble, threes off the break, threes when a guy is guarded and threes when a guy is not. Only the ladder is okay. Three pointers are best when attempted open off the pass. And one other thing while I'm on the topic of threes...



Not everyone shoots them well. For chrissake, Kenyon Martin attempts the occasional three. I really like Kenyon's game, but Kenyon ought to keep his rage contained to the dribble. And although LeBron James is the king and I'm a witness and all, he isn't exactly Steve Kerr from behind the arc, his dramatic game 2 winner not withstanding. It doesn't really matter for Derek Fisher. He misses it whether its a two or a three. He can only hit the ones and he doesn't get many if those because he's too washed up too dribble the ball towards the basket.



If more attention was paid by teams to get better two point attempts, everyone's offense would function more efficiently. If you subtract all of the 3 pointers out of each team's shooting percentage, you'll find that each team is shooting close to 50%. When you compare that to the fact that each team struggles to shoot 30% from 3, it doesn't take an MIT grad to figure out that more two point attempts will lead to more efficient offense. Please keep this delectable nugget in the back of your mind next time you watch Sasha Vujacic toss up a 25 footer off the dribble with a hand in his face.



Breakdown time.....



Each of the four remaining teams will be addressed in reference to what they're doing well and what they need to improve on. Stan Van, Mikey Brown, George the Animal, and Philosophical Phil: Get your reading glasses on.



Before I go into detail about what I like about the Orlando Magic up until now, I first must mea culpa all previous criticism of my 2nd favorite Van Gundy brother, Stan. He has had an outstanding series. He has found every right matchup. He changed his offense by employing Hedo Turkoglu as a point forward much more often. This has made Turkoglu so much more valuable than just a wing shooter, which is what he normally is. He has been an outstanding playmaker who is tough to guard becausde you've got to respect the jump shot. Van Gundy has employed Dwight Howard much more frequently as a post presence, a common complaint of your truly. But most importantly, Stan has understood amd embraced the theory from the great philosopher Dan Patrick when defending LeBron James. You can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him. And although LeBron's numbers are off the charts in this series, the Magic have been a pain in his rump in the half court. The Magic have focused on shutting down everyone around LeBron and its working. A good indicator in playing the Cavaliers well is that if LeBron needs to score 40 to keep the Cavs close, you're doing things right defensively.



If I'm Van Gundy going forward, my big focus is continuity. The Magic need to keep feeding Dwight Howard inside. Cleveland's strategy to foul Howard to exploit Howard's spotty free throw shooting has not worked. Howard has been efficient from the line and at times fouling isn't enough to keep him from dunking. It is also important to keep Rashard Lewis active on the perimeter. Cleveland's big defensive adjustment on Lewis has been to switch LeBron onto him. If the ball is in Lewis' hands, LeBron's got to work. Avoiding James on the defensive end is never an answer. He's too good off the ball. Taking the ball at him can wear him down. And if we were in some sort of alternate universe where fouls were called evenly, you may even be able to get hin in foul trouble.



The two things the Magic need to improve upon are something I addressed in detail up top. They need to cut down on the three point attempts. In the two games they won, they attempted 20 and 17 threes respectively. In the game they lost, they attempted 23 and hit 43% of them. The Magic are a very athletic team and need to continue to play offense off the dribble. Lots of good things happen when you get the ball close to the basket. And speaking of athleticism, we need to see more of Mickael Pietrus guarding LeBron James. No one shuts down LeBron, but Pietrus has him breathing heavy. And that works to Orlando's advantage.



In discussing what has worked so far for the Cavaliers is summed up in two words....LeBron James. Thats it. Everyone else, including head coach Mike Brown looks overwhelmed in the moment and overmatched by the Magic. But the one person who can help get Cleveland back in the right direction is none other than the coach himself, Mike Brown.



The first problem the Cavs has had is the game is being played too fast. The Magic are athletic and love to get up and down the court quickly. The Cavs have been more than happy to oblige, which becomes a major problem with Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the court. Ilgauskas has a few post moves and can block a few shots, but he looks like he's playing in concrete shoes. If the Cavs get in a running game with Ilgauskas on the court, they're literally playing 4 on 5 on one end of the floor. Furthermore, and I know its sacreligious to criticize the king, but LeBron's got to slow things down. Despite the easy baskets and free throw attempts he garners by pushing the ball off the floor, he speeds up the tempo of the game which plays right into Orlando's hands. This is something that needs to be explained to LeBron by his coach. In spite of LeBron's abundant talent and relentless determination and work ethic, he is not unlike any other 24 year old NBA player. He needs to be coached.

The other important change that Downtown Brown needs to make his to play a smaller lineup. The Magic have a wealth of wing players with decent size and athleticism. The Cavs have very few. But they do have a player sitting on their bench who was instrumental in their 2007 trip to the NBA finals, Sasha Pavlovic. Pavlovic has just enough size and athleticism to be a decent defender on Turkoglu or Pietrus and he can drain an open three, the RIGHT kind of three, which has been a big problem for the Cavs in this series. A unit of Anderson Varejao, James, Pavlovic, Delonte West, and Mo Williams presents some matchup issues for the Magic. Put LeBron in the post, feed him the rock, spot up your shooters and send Sideshow Bob (Varejao) to the weak side to clear the glass. If Mikey B is reading, I may have just solved all the Cavs problems and threw in a Simpsons reference for good measure. Bart, not OJ......

Speaking of O.J. Simpson, its time to break down Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. I must say that my first thought for Denver to shut down the Lakers was to make sure the Lakers were booked in an Eagle County, Colorado hotel and to hire the Spitzer call girl as the concierge and send her to Kobe's room with an urgent telegram. But once I realized that someone tried that already (albeit with a different girl) and it worked, I decided to get down to business.

Before I get all over Kobe, I must say he is having a very good series. With that said, old habits die hard. Kobe's inclination to do it all himself is wearing him down and making it very difficult for the Lakers. In the four games thus far in this series, Laker center Pau Gasol has attempted 40 shots. Kobe Bryant has attempted 99 shots. This stat becomes much more alarming when you add to the fact that Gasol is shooting 62% for the series. Its no wonder that Gasol was complaining publicly about not getting the ball today. Even though Denver is very deep and very athletic inside, Gasol has to be the a big part of what the Lakers do in the half court. He has the ability to create foul trouble in Nene, the aforementioned Kenyon Martin and my new favorite bench player, Chris "Birdman" Andersen. And the thing about Gasol is that he's about as unselfish a big man that you'll find. If Gasol sees the ball alot, everyone will. Kobe needs to think about shooting less, but scoring more. And it might help make Pau happy if Kobe bought him an "L". It may not shine like his wife's "sorry I cheated" diamond, but Pau needs it a lot more.

The other big problem for the Lakers in this series is the way Philosophical Phil is operating the personnel on his front line. Please allow me to explain. My man crush, Lamar Odom is absolutely overmatched as a power player against the Denver front line. This is clearly a series where Phil needs to get Andrew Bynum more minutes. Bynum's size is tougher for Denver to handle than Odom's s athleticism. However, Phil does not need to bury Odom on the bench. Quite the contrary. Odom actually can provide a tough matchup for Carmelo Anthony if Phil would play him at small forward. A great way for the Lakers to try and negate the Nuggets size advantage would be to play Bynum, Gasol, and Odom together on the front line. Odom is a more than adequate wing player and that lineup for short stretches would dominate the glass and give Denver fits. Instead, Phil keeps giving 15 minutes a game to Luke Walton. I happen to like Luke Walton, but he is no match athletically for everyone on Denver's roster. And I am certainly not suggesting that Phil takes minutes away from Trevor Ariza at small forward. He has had a very effective series and appears to be growing up as a player right before our eyes. This comes down to an old coaching saying that my favorite Van Gundy brother (Jeff) utters often. A coach's most important responsibility is to find a way to get his best players on the floor at the time the game is being decided. Philosophical Phil has 96 minutes to split between three front court players. If he gives Odom 10-15 minutes a game at small forward, he gets his best players on the floor more.

Before I break down the Denver Nuggets, I wonder if anyone has had a donut intervention with George Karl. He looks like Jerry Krause on steroids. Lets get George the Animal onto "The Biggest Loser" before Denver ownership has to get him fitted for a special sideline chair.

The Nuggets have done a lot of things right in this series. Their big men have been active and unselfish. Carmelo Anthony has emerged as an unselfish star that will do whatever it takes to win including but not exclusive to defending, rebounding, passing and even sitting down if need be. Their bench has been very effective. They've gotten extremely valuable and productive minutes out of "Who shot" J.R. Smith and the aforementioned Birdman. Their three problems have been inbound plays, discipline, and Chauncey Billups.

Chauncey Billups has had an amazing effect on the Nuggets since he was traded early in the season by the Detroit Pistons. He has given them the point guard they desperately needed and been a great leader that has helped make Denver's young players more accountable and less selfish. Everytime Denver steps on the court, Chauncey's influence is apparent. So whats the problem??? The threes!! Thats the problem. Billups takes far too many threes before he gets Denver into their offense. Some of them go in, but as Jeff Van Gundy remided us the other night, that doesn't make them good shots. Billups can score a lot of points, but is not a big statistical guy. He doesn't record a lot of assists, yet is a very good passer. Billups' effectiveness is measured in good decisions made and ultimately wins and losses. If Billups would eliminate the pull up three, his decision making would be impeccable. And for a team that has a discipline issue, Billups increased discipline in terms of shot selection would have an influence on other players.

Which segues nicely into the next issue. The Lakers are going to have a tough time beating the Nuggets. The Nuggets on the other hand can do a terrific job of beating themselves. The taunting has to stop. The technical fouls for taunting are going to cost them a game. J. R. Smith already cost them Game 2 with his chest pounding nonsense. He needs to save his technicals for when he needs them, like to knock Kobe down. As opposed to the rest of this column, I'm not trying to be funny now. Denver needs to stay physical and sometimes drawing technicals are a great way to do it. Kenyon Martin has become a master at using the technical to keep it rough. J.R. Smith has been the Nuggets best Kobe defender. If he's drawing tees because he has to scream in someone's face, he's risking being ejected for getting rough with Kobe. And with the way Smith has defended Kobe, the Nuggets can't afford that. He hasn't shut Kobe down. But, just like Mikael Pietrus on LeBron James, he's made Kobe work. And Kobe is starting to look physically worn. If the Nuggets can keep their heads, they can have Kobe breathing real heavy when the Lakers need him the most.

The other part of Denver's discipline problem is foul trouble. Foul trouble is how they lost game 3. Too many stupid touch fouls and too much reaching in. They did a much better job of playing disciplined defense in Game 4. They will need to carry that discipline back to Los Angeles for Game 5. With offensive players like Gasol and Bryant, its easy to find foul trouble. It seems oversimplisitic and George the Animal certainly doesn't want to take the energy or spirit out of these guys, but they've got to strike that delicate balance. For the Nuggets, the difference is looking like the best team in the NBA or self destructing at the Lakers feet. At this point, nothing would surprise me.

Back soon with more playoff thoughts and a few mock drafts. Giddyap. Y'all be cool.

With two Game 7s on the horizon in the conference semi-finals, its a great time to fire out some observations.


The Lakers have certainly placed themselves in a precarious predicament. There are several reasons that they will be playing for their playoff lives, the least of all not being the fact that they've played against a well coached cohesive hardworking unselfish basketball team that knows no quit. That not withstanding, a big reason that the Lakers have to play game 7 against the Rockets is head coach Phil Jackson's blind faith in a washed up Derek Fisher.

Derek Fisher has been a defensive liability in this entire series. On the three Kobe-Shaq Laker championship teams, Fisher was the perfect point guard. He played decent defense and hit plenty of threes created by Kobe's penetration. It doesn't seem like Philiosophical Phil is aware that its 2009. Fisher has been destroyed defensively by Rocket point guard Aaron Brooks. And Fisher has not exactly compensated on offense by shooting 28% in the series. The worst part about this for the Lakers is that Jackson has two other options had point guard far superior to Fisher, yet he stubbornly continually rolls Fisher out there.

The Lakers have been a clearly better team with Jordan Farmar at the point. Farmar has experience guarding Aaron Brooks from their days playing against each other in the Pac-10. He is also a superior athlete to Fisher which much better ability to penetrate off the dribble, which became a much bigger factor when Yao Ming went out for the series. Shannon Brown is also a better option than Fisher. He is currently shooting the ball better and is also a much better defender.

This has become an enormous factor in this series. The Rockets have one achilles heel. Both of their point guards, Brooks and Kyle Lowry, are relatively poor passers. If Philiosophical Phil makes getting the ball out of a point guard's hands a defensive priority while the Rockets do nothing but run the pick and roll with Brooks and Lowry, this should not be that hard for the Lakers. But with Fisher in the game, its far too easy getting Brooks and Lowry free. Not the proudest moment for a championship and all of fame coach. It may sound like heresy, but has the game passed him by? That is why we'll be watching Game 7 tomorrow. That, and.....

Rick Adelman

Back in the early 90s when Adelman coached the Clyde Drexler Trailblazers to a NBA final only to get annihilated by Michael Jordan's Bulls, I didn't think there was anything special about Adelman's coaching. When he coached the early 2000s Sacramento Kings, I thought they underachieved by never reaching the finals, even though the officials stole a Western Conference final from them. But the job he has done here with the Rockets is one of the better coaching jobs I've seen in 30 years of watching NBA basketball.

Unlike many other writers, I don't count what Adelman did when Tracy McGrady went out as any stroke of brilliance. As I had written then, this is a significantly better basketball team with without McGrady. Mcgrady's absence was incredibly liberating for every guy on that team except for Rafer Alston, and Rocket GM Daryl Morey shipped him to Orlando before McGrady' s surgery was scheduled. Adelman's greatest achivement has been the two games the Rockets have dominated the Lakers after he lost Yao Ming for the series. He lost his best help defender and his big inside post presence. So what did Adelman do? He simplified the offense to play mostly pick and roll, exploiting a great matchup advantage and committed to 6'6" Chuck Hayes at center, who gives Laker center Pau Gasol fits. Hayes has also been a huge asset on offense for the simple reason that he sets a great screen, like most every other Rocket player. Hayes does not need the ball to contribute. He epitiomizes exactly what the Lakers are missing. The Lakers are missing unselfish players who give everything they have to sacrifice for the good of the team. The Lakers still don't play together. Up until now, they've been largely successful as a group of individuals. But now Adelman gets one last chance to knock them off and possibly change the direction of the Lakers organization for years to come. The Rockets just might do it. They deserve to win this series more than the Lakers and karma can play a role as long as the referees have not been given a ratings mandate by the league. We'll know something's up if they dust off Tim Donaghy for this Game 7.......

The Boston-Orlando series has not been as high quality basketball as Rockets- Lakers, yet just as compelling. Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy has taken a lot of heat for his coaching in this series from media and his players alike. And although they all have a point, especially in terms of their under utilization of Dwight Howard on offense, everyone has seem to forget that the Magic are playing extremely short handed without point guard Jameer Nelson. Nelson is just as important to the Magic as Kevin Garnett is for the Celtics. Nelson always keep defenses honest by constantly penetrating and finding shooters. He also feeds Howard in the post early and often. His replacements have offered relatively low value. Jameer Nelson is an essential element in Orlando's efficient executuon of the offense. The only reason that Orlando is in a game 7 tomorrow is because of their giant hole at point guard. Stan has quickly found out what Adelman learned. Its very hard to win with Rafer Alston at point guard. The Rockets upgraded the position merely through subtraction. The Celtics on the other hand have gotten very good production form Glen "Big Baby " Davis replacing Kevin Garnett at power forward. Although he couldn't guard a Big Mac from an anorexic (he'd eat it), he has learned to hit that 15-18 footer that Garnett always hits which has become an important part of the Celtic offense.

The other interesting subplot I see in this series is the exposure of two of the most overrrated players in the NBA. I know this is not a popular notion, but Rajon Rondo is a little overrated. There are a lot of players who make contributions that don't show up on a stat sheet. Rondo is the opposite. Everything he does shows up on the stat sheet. Rondo is still not a good shooter, with very little confidence and he has long stretches where he turns the ball over a lot. His penchant for rebounding is very productive for a guard. But his preoccupation with rebounding causes the Celtics to miss transition basket opportunuites. Rondo is athletic enough to be an open court force, but he always seems to be playing in traffic. The stats and the wins are there for him, but I contend that he's not as good as he appears.

I hate to say it, but Dwight Howard is an overrated player. He is a superb rebounder and a decent help defender. But he's a black hole on offense. Once you pass him the ball, it is inevitably going up. His on the ball defense is actually pretty weak. Celtics center Kendrick Perkins is the most improved player I've seen on this playoff. He has also helped tremendously in filling the hole Garnett left. But there is no way a player like Perkins should play a talent like Howard to a draw in a 7 game series. And even though I believe that Howard needs to see the ball more, I also realize that part of what Van Gundy does with Howard is predicated on protecting him. Howard very well maybe a player who is an example of the law of diminshing returns. The more you ask of him, the less he gives you. This could also be a reason that Howard exhibits overt resentment towards Van Gundy. Either way, Van Gundy's only choice tomorrow night is to win it or lose it in Howard's hands. The Celtics have been too well coached to lose a game 7 because Hedo Turkoglu beat them. The same Hedo Turkoglu who tempts me to discontinue my high definition service on every close up of him.

One last note. I've been habitually critical of Doc Rivers as Celtics' coach even after he won a ring last year. However, Doc has squeezed every last bit possible from this Celtics team. At times when they have been overrun with fatigue. He's pressed just the right buttons to keep them afloat. Whether its Brian "Veal" Scalabrine, Eddie House or Stephon Marbury, Doc has found the right guy for the right spot and because of it the Celtics are one win away from reaching the Easter Conference finals. Its too bad that all of this work will culminate in an old fashioned ass whipping by Cleveland if Boston can survive yet another Game 7. No matter how it turns out, Doc Rivers should be commended for a proud title defense.

Enjoy the Game 7s. More next week as the conference finals start up. Giddyap. Y'all be cool.