Rebounding from the lost entries



Since the playoffs have began, I've sat down to write two separate columns. The first one (which was damn good by the way), vanished into the Cyber Bermuda Triangle. The second one took me so long to finish that by the time I got 3 quarters through it, most of it was wholly irrelevant. So, in a recovery attempt, I'm going to tell you what surprised me and what did not.


First Round

I was surprised that Chicago played Cleveland as tough as they did. I know it ended in 5, but Chicago was at a severe talent disadvantage and made every game but one interesting. If I'm Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade or LeBron James, I'd give careful consideration to joining Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng in Chicago during the great free agent frenzy of 2010. Then again, LeBron, Wade, and Bosh don't need me to tell them that....

I'm not surprised that Orlando disposed of Charlotte in such short order. Charlotte head coach Traveling Larry Brown did his David Blaine imitation getting this blend of mediocre talent into the playoffs.

I was completely surprised that Milwaukee pushed Atlanta to 7 games. Atlanta's perimeter defense was so bad that Mike Bibby and Jamal Crawford could have been mistaken for turnstiles. They made Brandon Jennings and John Salmons look like Tiny Archibald and Michael Jordan. And can Joe Johnson show up? He's gone from a player in Phoenix who was versatile enough to fill in whatever his team needed on a given night who has now become a high volume perimeter shooter with a horrific shot selection. Furthermore, he's done a subpar job fitting in with Atlanta's good young bigs in Josh Smith and Al Horford.

I was completely surprised that Boston disposed of Miami in 5 games. In my playoff preview, I boldly declared that the Celtics championship window had closed on Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge's fingers....oops. Boston has pulled off a shocking turnaround to say the least. And while I'm on the Celtics and I'm doing mea culpas, I feel the need to discuss Boston point guard Rajon Rondo. Up until these playoffs I had felt that Rondo's value reflected more on the stat sheet and less in overall contribution to wins and losses. After what I've seen in these playoffs,my view of Rondo is much different. My big criticisms of him were his weak perimeter shooting, weak free throw shooting, which is killer for a point guard, his propensity to gamble on defense, some poor offensive decision making, and a habit of chasing rebounds and getting caught out of position. Well, Rondo has improved both his free throw and perimeter shooting. His decision making has become impeccable on both ends of the floor. And his rebounding instincts have become a tremendous asset. He is clearly the Celtics best player. He's the straw that stirs the Garnett/Allen/Pierce drink. And if they make the NBA finals, he will be the biggest reason they got there. I was wrong about Rondo. He has become the fourth best point guard in the NBA, right behind Deron Williams, Chris Paul, and Derrick Rose, and right in front of the defensively challenged Steve Nash.

I was not surprised that the Oklahoma City Thunder pushed the Lakers to 6 games. I knew Russell Westbrook would be too much for Derek Fisher to handle and I was correct about Ron Artest's ability to put Kevin Durant in his hip pocket. Laker coach Phil Jackson's loyalty to Derek Fisher is admirable and somewhat foolish all at the same time. I have joked frequently in the past about Fisher being washed up and frankly its not all that much of a joke. Fisher has hit many big shots for the Lakers in the past and Phil has a unique comfort level with him. Up until this point, it has served the Lakers very well, which is why Phil Jackson has 10 championship rings and I'm a hack with a website.

I was also not surprised that San Antonio finished off Dallas in 6 games. What did surprise me was how bad a series Dallas coach Rick Carlisle coached. In all fairness he was saddled with integrating Caron Butler into a team where Butler just did not fit. When you're a player on the Mavericks, its Dirk Nowitzki's world and everyone else is living in it. Butler played like he was still competing for shots on the Wizards with Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas. Butler was a factor in Dallas' game 5 win with 36 points, but he was a liability otherwise. San Antonio shut down Jason Kidd using Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson to guard him. And I was certainly not surprised that Spur guard George Hill was the difference in the series for San Antonio. What did surprise me was that Carlisle used his fastest guard, rookie Rodrique Beaubois so little. Hill killed Dallas because he was the fastest player on the floor and guarded Jason Terry admirably. When Carlisle finally decided to use Beaubois, he single handedly got Dallas back into game 6. And once they were back in the game, he buried Beaubois on the bench right next to Shawn Marion, who got buried on the bench down the stretch of every game. Ranger Rick is lucky that Dallas owner Mark Cuban is a reasonable man, or he could have easily found himself back in the ESPN studio.

I was not surprised that Phoenix took care of Portland in 6. What did surprise me was that an organization with the rotten luck of Portland would risk their franchise player in Brandon Roy by putting him in a playoff game less than two weeks after he had knee surgery for a torn meniscus. With a healthy Roy, Portland was not a threat to win a championship this year. And I don't buy the idea that he wasn't risking hurting it further. That Portland front office has become every man for himself and if they're not careful they are going to squander a stacked hand.

I know I shouldn't have been surprised by this, but I was sort of surprised that Denver rolled over to Utah without their head coach George Karl. Utah's mental toughness was certainly not a surprise, because thats the only way head coach Jerry Sloan will have it. But I thought Denver would play with some purpose considering that Karl dangled his return to the team if they made the second round. But with Kenyon Martin playing on one leg and Chris "Birdman" Anderson having no lift because of a knee injury, Denver was severely compromised inside. And when you combine that with J.R. Smith's reckless shot selection and Chauncey Billups channeling his inner Iverson all over again, Carmelo Anthony had no help.


Second round


I was so surprised that Boston was able to send LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers home in 6 games. They are so many things I saw in this series that had me shaking my head, I don't even know where to start. I was surprised the Celtics played as efficiently as they did, although that was more of a product of the fact that you could could have given the Cavs red uniforms, british accents, and swords and they could not have guarded Buckingham Palace. Antawn Jamison guarded Kevin Garnett like Garnett was carrying an infectious disease and Jamison didn't want to catch it. Mo Williams treated Rondo like he was a dragon. Williams acted as if he stood in front of Rondo, Rondo would breathe fire on him. And Cleveland coach Mike Brown showed an absurd amount of misplaced loyalty in guys who never earned it. Brown's best 5 in this series was Varejao, James, Moon, Parker, and West. Those were his 5 best defensive matchups. Instead he lived with Jamison and Williams who were defensive liabilities from moment one. Jamison was so bad in particular, that in game 5, Brown actually thought that the 350 lb. Shaq had a better chance to contain Garnett than Jamison. Thats like having someone send in Kevin James to pinch run for you.

And while I'm on the Cavs, indulge me a moment while I put in my two cents on LeBron James. All of this speculation that engulfs LeBron reminds me of an old expression that my grandfather on my mother's side used to use. Papa Nelson would say, "Everyone's on the bullsh-t." There is very very little I hear that I actually believe on where Lebron is playing, why he didn't play well, and what he is thinking. LeBron is a 25 year old kid who has the world in the palm of his hand. Anyone who pretends to know what he is thinking is so full of it, that they're eyes are brown, especially those closest to him. LeBron's pending free agency is the ultimate wait and see game. Our media driven, information seeking society is not good with that. Anyone can speculate until they're blue in the face. Its meaningless hot air. And as far as this notion that he quit on Cleveland in game 5 of the Boston series. I saw a young player who defended Boston's hottest player in Rondo very effectively in the first half holding Rondo to zero points and zero assists. He clearly didn't have it offensively, like a great pitcher without his good stuff. He needed his guys to pick up for him a little bit. And for the exception of Shaq, who is still plays a tough brand of basketball for a fat old guy, the rest of his guys played dead from the neck up. No fire. No urgency. LeBron James, the 25 year old basketball star looked frustrated. I know we're all suppossed to be witnesses and all, but its not really fair to the guy to act shocked when he turns up human. See, I'm on the bullsh-t with everyone else.....

I was not all that surprised that the Magic swept Atlanta. Atlanta ends up to be the polar opposite of the concept that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. And the worst part about it is that the Hawks quit. Their head coach Mike Woodson got fired after they were eliminated and I can't say it wasn't justified. His inability to get Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford to choose shots more selectively was fatal to the Hawks. In the upcoming great free agent frenzy of 2010, Joe Johnson should display a buyer beware sticker as he shops for a max deal.

I was definitely a little surprised that the Lakers swept the Utah Jazz. I certainly expected the Lakers to win, but I thought they would lose one or two games. Once again, I get caught underestimating how washed up Derek Fisher truly is. Deron Williams certainly scored and created at will against Fish. But Fish brought it right back at him, having a good offensive series. And while I'm here, I was extremely disappointed with the weak defense Utah played in this series, specifically their 3 best players. Willimas, Carlos Boozer, and Paul Milsap were destroyed by the Lakers. Frankly, for guys considered to be premium players, their defensive effort was insufficient.

I was completely and entirely floored that Phoenix was able to sweep San Antonio. Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire pick and rolled San Antonio to death. Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN wrote a column about Tim Duncan's inability to defend the pick and roll (linked right here
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/15752/has-tim-duncan-become-a-defensive-liability) and he's right on. Duncan's eroded foot speed really hurt the Spurs in this series. Also, the Spurs had expected Richard Jefferson to bring them athleticism on both ends of the floor and in transition. Jefferson was completely schooled by the Geritol taking Grant Hill. Jefferson never appeared comfortable in his role with the Spurs. And if recent history is relevant, the head coach with 3 championship rings gets the benefit of the doubt, not the aging chucker who hurt his career by thinking he was better than he was. Greg Popovich was not wrong in believing that Jefferson could compete athletically with Hill and Jason Richardson. But Jefferson didn't seem like he wanted to be up to the task.

Conference Finals

I am completely flabbergasted that Orlando has fallen behind Boston 2-0 at home nonetheless. It shocks me that the Magic have not played an uptempo game as they did in last year Eastern Conference final against Cleveland. I'm not looking to minimize how well the Celtics are playing, but Orlando has played this exactly how Boston would like them to. Boston has suffoctaed Orlando's perimeter players in the halfcourt. The Magic are in desperate need of easy baskets. And some wide open transition 3 point attempts wouldn't hurt either. But as long as they keep walking it up and use Dwight Howard in the post as their primary offensive option, they're on the express route to going home for the season. Their offensive philosophy needs to be simple. Run pick and roll with Howard in the half court and get out and run off turnovers and missed baskets. The Celtics can be hard to run against because they have become the smartest team in basketball, which is a counter intuitive statement considering that they have Rasheed Wallace on their team. But if the Magic make them run back od defense, they have a chance to wear down a team thats more than a little long in the tooth.

I am not surprised at all that the Lakers are handling the Suns with such ease. The most frustrating part about this for Phoenix is that the Lakers are burying them at their own game. The Suns love to run and the Lakers are running them out of the gym. Amare Stoudemire is taking a lot of heat for getting eaten alive by Pau Gasol, which is not a crime. Gasol doesn't discriminate. He does it to just about everybody. The Suns best bet to get back into this series is to go big and play slow. Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry has got caught playing too small for too long which has permitted Gasol and my man Lamar Odom to dominate both rims. Phoenix probably doesn't win the series slowing down, but anything's got to work better than what they just did in these two games.

I'll be back with more during the finals. And I'll get started on the draft and the great free agnet frenzy of 2010. If you wannt to follow my lunatic rantings on twitter, you can find me at www.twitter.com/bgeltz Giddyap. Y'all be cool.