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.