Boston, Miami, and the Case Against Taking the Regular Season Easy

Posted: June 6, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 2012 Playoffs | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

ESPN’s John Hollinger tweeted last night that the playoffs are so much more fun when we’re all wrong. This is true—a week ago, absolutely no one had the Celtics up 3-2 going back to Boston. A few people had Oklahoma City winning, which they could do tonight, but most thought the Spurs would continue to ride their massive winning streak to the Finals. Even so, no one’s really surprised OKC is up right now. What is shocking is that the Celtics are up.

Consider: Boston won last night even though the first half shooting lines for their starting five went like this: Garnett 4-10, Pierce 2-10, Rondo 1-8, Allen 1-4, and Bass 4-5. This somehow got them 40 points to Miami’s 42, of which 34 were thanks to LeBron, Wade, and a gimpy Bosh. LeBron would finish with 30 and Wade with 27, but no one else on the Heat could get into double figures. Somehow, Wade and Chalmers led the team with three assists each. For some reason, Chris Bosh didn’t play in the fourth quarter despite an effective 9 and 7 in 14 minutes.

The problem for Miami goes all the way back to the regular season.

Erik Spoelestra likely won’t have a job if Miami loses this series. I’m going to go ahead and call for it even if they win. This is a terribly coached team, and it has nothing to do with the challenge of incorporating three first options. They’ve never had an offensive identity, never had a set substitution pattern, and have never been pushed by their coach.

Earlier in the year, I was singing Spoelestra’s praises for his “Pace and Space” offense, and I stand by that. It’s encouraged Wade and LeBron—two of the greatest defensive gamblers and fast break players in the game—to get out and run, which they should’ve been doing their entire careers. But it hasn’t done much to change their halfcourt sets, except for “hey LeBron, go down into the post more” and “hey Bosh, shoot 20-footers instead of 18-footers to space the floor.” These are obvious things that, again, both should have been doing all along.

What’s lacking in their halfcourt sets is off-ball movement. Wade and James still, after all this scrutiny, stand in corners while the other one runs the offense. Would it be so difficult to install a motion offense? Wouldn’t you want a bunch of backdoor screens being set when your roster consists of two of the best playmakers in the game and nothing else but shooters? Or what about the triangle? Wade and James can both play in the post or run the offense. Shane Battier, Mike Miller, and Mario Chalmers would all be effective corner men. The offense isn’t as hard as everyone thinks, especially when you’ve got two of the most cerebral players in the game.

But ok, fine. That’s just a different offensive philosophy. Most NBA coaches like a pick and roll game where three out of five guys stand around. But Spo’s incompetency was most evident on the final play of the game. Down four with a manageable 8.8 seconds to go, the Heat went with a lineup of Chalmers, Battier, James Jones (shooters) with Wade and James (superstars who’ve worked playoff miracles before). This is a situation where everyone knows what’s coming. Wade or LeBron is getting the ball at the top of the key and either getting to the basket as quickly as possible or shooting a quick three. The Heat lined up straight across the floor, with Battier and James on the strong side and Wade and Chalmers far on the weak side. Instead of a series of screens to get at least one of the superstars open at the top, the screens managed to get both James and Wade pinned in the paint while Jones inbounded to Chalmers, who then through a bad pass to an just-arriving Wade. By now, two seconds had already ticked off the clock and the game was completely out of reach.

It was one of the dumbest plays I’ve ever seen.

The other problem with this team is how lazy they are getting back on defense. It’s sort of ironic, given how much of a threat they are with their offensive fast breaks. Rondo’s quip from Game 4 about “complaining and crying to the officials” is absolutely spot on. This has been Wade’s MO for years. It’s more difficult to point to guys not getting back, but there was plenty of it last night. For one, superstars lead by example. If you see Dwyane Wade hustling back after getting knocked to the floor with no call, you’re more likely to do it after you miss a three. It’s something a good coach with control of his team would’ve instilled a long time ago.

Finally, the Heat have never had a set rotation. They couldn’t even settle on a starting lineup throughout the season—every player on the Heat started a game except for Juwan Howard (7 MPG in 28 games) and some dude named Mickell Gladness (3.5 MPG in 8 games). Yes, they had a lot of injuries, but their main starting center, Joel Anthony, started 51 out of 64 games. Eddy Curry started one. Dexter Pittman started six. Ronny Turiaf, brought on late in the season, started 5 out of 13. None of those dudes played a minute last night. Not one. The center position was played entirely by Udonis Haslem, gimpy Bosh, and LeBron.

Rotational continuity is vital. Miami has a lot of players who play multiple positions: Shane Battier is a 2/3, Mike Miller is a 2/3, LeBron is a 3/4 who plays like a 1, Udonis Haslem is a 4/5. This should be an advantage—if you have superstars like James and Wade and a pile of solid role players, you don’t necessarily need to worry about traditional lineups. The Bulls used to throw out Toni Kukoc (not a center, but a tall jump shooter, like Bosh), Dennis Rodman (undersized but tough, like Haslem or Battier), Scottie Pippen (like James), Michael Jordan (like Wade) and Steve Kerr/Ron Harper (point guards in name only, like Chalmers). The reason the Heat haven’t been able to cover up their weak positions (center and point guard) or make their aging role players better is because the roles were never defined. Not once, throughout the regular season or playoffs, was Spoelestra able to say, “Ok, this is how we’re going to play. This is what works for us. We need you to do this.”

Miami should’ve blown through this Boston team. Their bench is Mickeal Pietrus (washed up), Keyon Dooling (sucks), Greg Stiemsma (solid, but rookie), and Marquis Daniels (washed up). Ray Allen can’t run or shoot. Paul Pierce can barely get around anyone. Rajon Rondo, their best player, regularly passes out of open layups (twice in the first three minutes last night, neither of which led to baskets). The Celtics are another team with no off-ball movement, except their point guard is only a threat to score from ten feet in. They straight-up just want it more. Well, that, and Kevin Garnett is playing hist best ball in years and Rondo is really, really good.

(Quick aside, because Boston is the poster child for the problem of taking it easy in the regular season: If Boston had tried harder and won a few more games, they would’ve had the fourth seed against Atlanta in the first round. Since neither of those teams can win on the road, this would’ve saved some time, no? And maybe, just maybe, if they’d taken care of business earlier against a barely-deserves-to-be-there 76ers team, they could’ve gotten some rest before this Miami series. A slightly healthier Ray Allen, potentially Avery Bradley back (but probably not), and everyone moving a bit better. Beantown, just know that this column would be about you if you hadn’t won last night.)

I’m not saying Miami doesn’t have a chance to win this series. They’ve still got Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. But don’t forget that Game 2 was extremely winnable for Boston (115-111 in OT, with some more-than-sketchy calls). The Heat should’ve won in five. With how they’ve played lately, they don’t deserve the series. And Spoelestra doesn’t deserve a job.

And think how different things would be if Derrick Rose still had both knees.

The Draft Lottery is Nearly Meaningless and Impossible to Fix

Posted: June 1, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 2012 Playoffs, NBA history, Small-market teams and competitive balance | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

In perhaps the funniest Draft moment ever, the until-seven-weeks-ago-NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets won the first overall pick. This ranks right up there with Portland picking Bowie over Jordan, Detroit/Memphis picking Darko Milicic/Hasheem Thabeet number two in 2003/2008, New York winning the first-ever draft lottery and the rights to Patrick Ewing, and Cleveland winning the first overall pick and the rights to a guy who had only played eleven college games (less funny since he went on to win Rookie of the Year, but still). This will spark 10,000 “the NBA is rigged” conversations, all of which will be annoying. I don’t believe the NBA is rigged, and more importantly, I can’t believe the NBA is rigged, or it’s just not fun.

But if you want to know my theory, Stern and Co. did rig the draft, only because they guessed no one would think them that brazen.

Anyway, people get all bent out of shape over the draft, when it really guarantees nothing. Yes, I’ve long advocated for building through the draft, but not as a panacea. You build through the draft to get good players cheap. Think the Bulls are going to be able to afford Taj Gibson after this year? No way. But they’ve gotten solid years out of him. Think the Thunder can afford both 6th Man of the Year James Harden and blocks leader Serge Ibaka after this year? No, but if they win the title this year, it will have been thanks to savvy drafting.

Other times, you build a nucleus that can develop chemistry together (again, for cheap) and maybe wants to stay together because the team has become family. I’ll admit this is more rare in an increasingly star-driven, weather-obsessed NBA, but it can happen—while the “young core” of Kirk Hinrich, Loul Deng, Andres Nocioni, and Ben Gordon are no longer together, that was the beginning of the high-chemistry, character-obsessed Bulls (and I’m pretty sure Ben Gordon wishes he was the 6th man behind Ronnie Brewer right now instead of, well, playing in Detroit).

So yes, building through the draft is important, but the Charlotte Bobcats aren’t ruined forever because they lost out on the Unibrow Sweepstakes (they’re ruined forever because Michael Jordan sucks as an executive). There’s an inordinate amount of luck involved in the draft. The Bulls didn’t suck or tank the year before they got Derrick Rose, they just got lucky enough not to have to start Hinrich-Gordon-Deng-Brandon Rush-Joakim Noah in 2008. Yet they were also smart enough not to draft Michael Beasley, be forced to start Hinrich-Gordon-Deng-Beasley-Noah, and have their thirteenth man being nothing but a marijuana mule for Beasley and Noah. And believe it or not, all four teams in the Conference Finals right now could have very different outlooks with the tiniest tweaks in their draft history.

San Antonio Spurs: San Antonio has relied on an inordinate amount of luck (Tim Duncan), and an absolutely insane amount of skill in the draft (Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, Kahwi Leonard, DeJuan Blair, Tiago Splitter). Had David Robinson not broken his foot, they wouldn’t have Duncan, or any of their four titles. But they certainly wouldn’t have this kind of extended stretch without their incredible scouting (Tony Parker was picked behind legends like Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry, and Troy Murphy) and willingness to let foreign guys develop overseas (Splitter, picked 27th in the Oden/Durant draft but debuting in 2010, or Ginobli, picked 57th in 1999).

So it’s unfair to compare Charlotte, New Orleans, Washington, and Brooklyn. Wait a second, yes it is! If any of those teams had drafted Duncan, he would’ve LeBroned them in 2000 because their front offices are so mangled.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Their success comes from being smart and savvy, but damn are they dependent on some draft picks going different ways: Kevin Durant instead of Greg Oden. Russell Westbrook instead of Kevin Love, Danilo Gallinari, Eric Gordon, or Joe Alexander. James Harden instead of an uncertain-at-the-time Ricky Rubio or a ankles-made-of-tissue Stephen Curry. Serge Ibaka instead of Nicolas Batum, George Hill, or Darrell Arthur. Thabo Shefolosha instead of James Johnson (stretch, but that’s essentially what the trade was). Things go only slightly differently, and we’re looking at Rubio-Gordon-Small Forward X-Love-Oden. Then again, maybe not being in Portland, with their abysmal medical staff, would save Oden’s career. Does that version of Oden, combined with Love, ever give up a rebound? Plus, Love spaces the floor so Oden can do work down low, Gordon with his sweet stroke, and Rubio doing Rubio things. Anyone else salivating? That said, Durant will go down as the second-greatest player of his generation (unless he pulls out more titles than LeBron). Hard to complain with the results, and it’s unfair to say Oden would be anything other than what he has been.

Back to the Thunder, though. They would’ve taken Oden #1 in a heartbeat. Everyone would’ve. So as great as Sam Presti is, he should thank the basketball gods every night that theydidn’tget the number two pick.

Boston Celtics: Could have had Duncan in 1997. Maybe the same Spurs scenario plays out in Beantown—though walking on to a team with Antoine Walker, Nervous Pervis Ellison, Dino Radja, and Dee Brown isn’t quite the same as Robinson, Sean Elliot, and Avery Johnson. The Celts also could’ve had Oden/Durant, but probably wouldn’t have gotten the 2008 title.

Scenarios: Durant joins a young Boston team that includes Al Jefferson, Rajon Rondo,Kendrick Perkins, and whatever you can get for Paul Pierce (his value was pretty high in 2007). That’s a pass-first point guard and a stud power forward/center whose midrange jumper has to be respected. How long before Boston wins multiple titles? Or maybe Boston still makes all those trades and stacks KG-Durant-Pierce-Allen-Rondo-Perkins (nearly impossible, but potentially the sickest smallball of all time). Or maybe they draft Oden and make all those trades (and Oden becomes what we all thought he’d be, because, again, Portland’s medical staff sucks). That gives us Oden-Garnett-Pierce-Allen-Rondo. Maybe they don’t wilt quite so much in 2009 when Garnett missed the playoffs. And they sure as hell don’t trade their starting center (Oden) for a backup forward who doesn’t fit and has heart problems (Green), meaning they don’t suck as much in 2012.

Miami: If the 2003 draft goes any differently at all, Miami Thrice never happens. Wade could have fallen to the Clippers or Bulls, Memphis could’ve gotten the number one pick, everyone could’ve realized Darko would be a bust, someone could’ve taken a flier on Maciej Lampe. But the likely scenarios are this: ‘Bron walks onto a Memphis team that features Pau Gasol, Shane Battier, and Mike Miller. They easily make the playoffs for the first four years of his career, potentially winning a championship. Then he leaves in 2007 for the Knicks, Heat, hometown Cavs, Bulls, almost anywhere but Memphis.

Or maybe Detroit picks Chris Bosh second and goes on to more extended dominance. Bosh and Ben Wallace would be excellent complements. Perhaps they don’t spend $90 million on Gordon and Charlie Villanueva in 2009.

Or maybe Wade doesn’t get hurt for two seasons, sending Miami into tank-for-2010 mode. But netting Wade at the 5th pick got them a championship, and other than Kendrick Perkins and a bench-warming Darko, Wade is the only player in that draft with a ring.

So cheer the hell up, Bobcats/Wizards/Cavaliers/Nets fans. The draft is insane. Remember, Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilcrest haven’t played a single professional minute. Blake Griffin missed his whole rookie season and it’s a small miracle that he came back as explosive as he did. Greg Oden became a perpetually injured alcoholic. Steph Curry and Brandon Roy had unforeseen ankle/knee problems. People once talked about drafting Michael Beasley over Derrick Rose. Anything is possible. Except for fixing ping-pong balls.

Heat-Celtics Preview: Looking Through Boston

Posted: May 30, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 2012 Playoffs | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

While the Western Conference is lighting us up with high-scoring, fast-paced contests, the East seems to just give us a sense of terrible luck leading to inevitability. Derrick Rose tore his ACL. Dwight Howard had his herniated disk. Ray Allen is playing on one leg. Avery Bradley’s shoulder won’t stay in its socket. Yes, injuries are part of the game. But in an already weakened Eastern Conference, the Heat have had a relatively easy path to where they are now, and that’s not even bringing up how they got this roster. No basketball fan can fully appreciate the unholy alliance of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. Despite their breathtaking transition game, fluid passing, and once-in-a-generation skill, you can’t help but watch them in the postseason and wonder about the epic battles they could be having against each other. Instead, the two have never gone head-to-head in a playoff series.

What about Boston, you say? You can’t tell me with a straight face that they have a chance of winning this series. While Kevin Garnett is enjoying a great revitalization, the rest of the team just isn’t there. Paul Pierce’s offensive effectiveness will be severely limited by how difficult it is to guard LeBron while LeBron is playing the best basketball of his life. Rajon Rondo is good for two insanely dominant, triple-double games, maybe a third if Beantown’s lucky. He’s also good for one stinkbomb so monstrously bad that it at best makes you forget the dominance and at worst negates it. Ray Allen may have to play every other game, probably the worst news if you’re a Boston fan because it means your backup two-guard is Sasha Pavlovic. That also takes out the one game of the series where Ray plays like Jesus Shuttlesworth (37-4-4 and 58-50-100 shooting splits). Avery Bradley was supposed to make life difficult for a pushing-30, coming-off-the-worst-playoff-game-of-his-life Dwyane Wade. Instead, he’s sitting.

So we’re getting Wade and LeBron at their best, doing what we’ve always wanted: LeBron to be a cross between Magic Johnson, Lamar Odom, Karl Malone, and Scottie Pippen and Wade to do his best Jordan impression. Both moving without the ball, working together, and being icily dominant. During Wade’s insane 41-point Game 7 against Indiana, I wondered why LeBron was being so quiet. Then I saw he finished with 28-6-7. Has another superstar ever been able to finish with a quiet 28-6-7 and not leave observers saying “uh-oh, he’s playing the best ball of his life”?

Since this series seems like a formality (sorry, Boston. If Wade has a catastrophic injury or LeBron has another catastrophic meltdown, I’ll write another column), let’s talk about the Spurs and Heat. They are easy opposites because of their philosophical divergence: San Antonio the disciplined, been-here-before-and-earned-it team. I’ve compared them to the 1970 Knicks, and I stand by that. The Heat, other the other hand, are easily compared to the 1996-98 Bulls: LeBron as a supercharged Scottie, Wade as a not-quite-Jordan, Bosh as a slightly better Toni Kukoc, Joel Anthony and Ronny Turiaf as your Luc Longley and Bill Wennington, Shane Battier as a sane Dennis Rodman, Mike Miller as a not-quite-Steve Kerr, and Mario Chalmers as Ron Harper, but with knees and an offensive shot.

The difference is the Bulls earned their titles by suffering gut-blasting defeats (Detroit in ’88-90, Orlando in ’95) that propelled them to a “no, we got this now” mentality. The closest thing the Heat have to that is intense media scrutiny. Unlike the Spurs, they have a lot of problems being coached. Fair or unfair, there was the LeBron shoulder bump last year, Chris Bosh saying he just wants to chill last year, and the “oh no, it’s happening again” shouting match with Wade this year. Spoelestra seems to be coaching for his life right now, and while they’ll win this series, they’re doing it with LeBron playing 40.5 minutes a game and Wade playing 37.

And that’s it: they are dependent on LeBron and Wade to play out of their minds every single night. Then they need at least one of the Mario Chalmers/Mike Miller/Shane Battier/James Jones guys to be lights out from three (not unlikely given how Chalmers is playing) and another one of those guys to be decent from long range. And then they’re going to have to adapt to the head-turning offense the Spurs are going to throw at them.

Sorry, Boston, my mind keeps drifting. Hey, I like Brandon Bass. He’ll do exactly what you expect Brandon Bass to do, so…that’s good news, I guess.

The exciting thing is this: we’re getting historically good basketball from the Spurs, and LeBron and Wade (top 30 all-time) are playing their best basketball together. It’s going to be an epic Finals. We just have to sit through another underwhelming East series first.

The Evolution of Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett

Posted: May 18, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: 2012 Playoffs, Small-market teams and competitive balance | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

The stories of the 2012 season have been all LeBron James and Kevin Durant. LeBron submitted his best season ever en route to a third MVP; Durant nearly matched him. Both are facing questions about their ability to rise to the occasion when it matters. This has been plaguing LeBron since 2009, but it’s just now creeping up on Durant. People are starting to think, “Hey, maybe it’s not because Russell Westbrook dribbles out shot clocks like he grew up idolizing Dean Smith. Maybe it’s not because Scott Brooks can’t coach the last two minutes. Maybe it’s because the best scorer on the planet doesn’t demand the ball enough and will spend entire plays idling on the wing like a hungover college kid at a Sunday morning intramural game.” So what could the world want more than a Thunder-Heat Finals, where all this can be resolved for at least a summer and we can finally launch Bird-Magic 2.0?

Maybe no one agrees with me, but the answer is a Spurs-Celtics Final. Kevin Garnett. Tim Duncan. For all the chips.

No, it’s not a last hurrah. It’s close, yes. But we count these two guys and their teams out year after year, and they keep coming back, despite having played a combined billion minutes over their careers. How in the hell?

The narrative on both of their careers is pretty well-known: KG came in a skinny high school kid in 1995, couldn’t get out of the first round, played with volatile knuckleheads (Stephon Marbury, Latrell Sprewell) and just-not-good-enough dudes (Sam Cassell, Terrell Brandon, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith, Tom Gugliotta) on a stupid franchise (before there was David Kahn, there was Kevin McHale signing Joe Smith to an illegal contract, losing three first-round draft picks). He was traded to Boston in 2007 and finally got a ring playing with Paul Pierce and Jesus Shuttlesworth. Duncan spent four years in college, was born into a team with David Robinson, Sean Elliot, and Avery Johnson, and got a ring in his second season. Then he won three more, thanks to playing for a genius franchise. An argument can be made that had they switched places, Garnett would be the one with a bling-heavy hand and Duncan would be the desperate ring-chaser. Personally, I don’t agree, but we’ll never know.

Both of these guys should be decomposing now—Garnett because he plays every game like a pit bull who’s just had electroshock therapy and Duncan because he’s 36 and has almost never played a season without a deep playoff run. Instead, they’re still thriving as the heart and soul of two title contenders. How in the hell?

Most every player has a peak—call it a career year, or call it a 3-4 year stretch where they’re at their absolute best. The greats have two peaks (Hakeem, Barkley, Shaq), the super-greats have three (Bird, Magic, Kareem), and Michael Jordan had four. For more details, see Bill Simmons’ Big Book of Basketball. It’s a useful premise, and it’s how you explain Duncan and Garnett (and probably Kobe, too. Well, that and German knee injections).

Garnett took a few years to really develop as a player, but when he truly broke out around 2000, he erupted. He could play small forward (thanks to his 18-footer and explosive athleticism), power forward (his natural position as a skinny 7-footer), and center (because he was a 7-footer in league beginning to lose its 7-footers). He dragged some pretty mediocre Wolves teams to the playoffs, but never past the first round. In 2004, he put up 24-14-5-1.5-2, leading the Wolves in every statistical category except assists, trailing only Sam Cassell. He was MVP that year, and it wasn’t really close. Then the team evaporated and missed the playoffs for the next three years.

When he was traded to the Celtics, it immediately became Garnett’s team. Sure, Paul Pierce was The Guy on that team—taking last shots, handling the ball in crunch time, and leading the way in scoring. But the team was Garnett’s. He brought an insane intensity to the group that made Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins who they are today. There were a lot of years of frustration and losing culture between him and Pierce (and to a lesser extent, Ray Allen), but they gelled quickly and won a title mostly because of Garnett’s leadership.

Without having to be The Guy Who Does Absolutely Everything, Garnett focused on defense, rebounding, and spot-up shooting (he’s never been that great of a post player). Then, mostly because of the fact that he’d played 1,100 minutes at warp speed and maybe because of championship hangover, his knee broke down and he missed huge chunks of the Celtics title defense. This was fine by me, as it led to the best first-round series of all time. But that knee injury forced him to become this new version, which is his second peak: a defensive center. Yes, a center. He anchors Boston’s defense, blocks shots, and drags other centers away from the basket with his face-up game. He’s like 2000s David Robinson with a jump shot. Oh, speaking of…

Tim Duncan is a weird guy to talk about a second peak, because he’s never really changed as a player. He’s been a consistently excellent low-post guy with a consistent, fundamental go-to move: the bank shot. Chris Mullin said last night that the Spurs should retire the logo on the wing for Duncan instead of his jersey. That’s how much he uses that spot. Unlike KG, Duncan doesn’t play with the same intensity every single game. This isn’t a bad thing. Sure, he tries to win, but there’s a difference between between a mid-December game in Sacramento and an playoff elimination game. Being a big guy, he can’t afford to be as pathologically BallSoHard as Jordan or Iverson or Kobe always were.

Instead, he’s pure and methodical. Until about three years ago, you could count on him for 24-12-4 with a few blocks and great defense, 54-60 wins, and then a bunch of monster playoff games with numbers like 27-17-5-2-4. Need rebounds? He’s a Hoover. Cover Shaq? Done. Score every time down the floor? Sure. He even knows in late game situations to position himself closer to the basket for easier points and less stalling in the post. He’s never had a problem letting Stephen Jackson or Manu Ginobli or Tony Parker take over in crunch time. In fact, by being able to space the floor and get deep inside position, he frees up the guards to do whatever they need to do. Which is great, because if you want to win, you need a wing scorer in crunch time.

Now, with a couple “DNP-Old” lines under his belt, Duncan is coasting through the regular season more than ever. He’ll never get another All-NBA nod. But he might get another ring, and that’s what he cares about. It’s not exactly coasting, though. What we’re really talking about is a more exaggerated sense of the moment. The Spurs are more of a complete team now than ever, reminiscent of the 2004 Pistons (Duncan as Ben Wallace, Parker as Chauncey Billups) or 1970 Knicks (Duncan as Willis Reed, Parker as Walt Frazier), but Duncan knows they don’t stand a chance without him. He’s not The Man, but he is the soul of the team. So he plays career-low amounts of minutes every year, allows guys like DeJuan Blair and Tiago Splitter to develop, and then morphs into Playoffs Mode, throwing up 26-10-2-2-2 on 12/20 shooting, like he did Tuesday.

Yes, Tony and Manu will be taking the final shots for the Spurs. Yes, it’s unlikely Duncan wins Finals MVP. But he is the Spurs for as long as he’s around. You think you build a culture of winning with scrubs, foreigners, and second-round draft picks if your best player isn’t willing to be coached despite being a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

KG and Timmy D’s respective evolutions show how truly special they are. Sure, you can point to advanced medical techniques keeping them in the league well past when they should be on ice floes. But it’s their willingness to change their games and sublimate themselves that makes them extraordinary and their teams perennial contenders.

Recap: Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls 2.12.2012

Posted: February 13, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Bulls 2011-2012, Game recaps | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It wasn’t quite a “drubbing”, but it was painful to watch as the Boston Celtics beat up on the Bulls yesterday in the matinee game of the Sunday Showcase. Much like the last time the Bulls played on Sunday afternoon—against Miami—it was a game of runs, with the Bulls frequently falling behind before rallying within 4-6 points. Much like last time, Boston led the entire game, and the Bulls never really had a shot.

Rajon Rondo played out of his mind with a 32-10-15 effort, the first time a Celtic has done that since Larry Bird in 1987. The Bulls had no answer for the Celtics’ pick and rolls, and the interior defense was lacking, especially from Carlos Boozer. Perhaps more importantly than that, Derrick Rose was missing. Rose and Rondo frequently go at each other, with Rondo sometimes ignoring teammates trying to one-up Rose. Throw in Rose’s attacking and ability to defend Rondo, and maybe the outcome is different.  Missing for the Celtics were Brandon Bass and Jermaine O’Neal, their two best big men other than Kevin Garnett. Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer took advantage, throwing up 16-9 and 22-7, respectively. The bench, though, was terrible, with Taj Gibson shoowing 1/6 and displaying a complete inability to finish at the rim. Omer Asik only played nine minutes and was ineffective. You get the sense that he could really use the practice time that is missing from this season. The Celtics bigs were also phenomenal, with Kevin Garnett getting 13-12, Chris Wilcox going for 11-9, and rookie JuJuan Johnson getting 12 points and showing a decent shooting stroke.

C.J. Watson, whose numbers are up this season and has played well next to Rose in some situations, still doesn’t seem particularly adept at running a team. Yes, he got 22-6, but on atrocious 8/23 shooting and with 3 turnovers. Luol Deng and Kyle Korver also couldn’t shoot. It’s a miracle the Bulls got to 91 points.

The loss snapped a pretty convincing 5-game win streak, which included its share of blowouts. Four straight blowouts look nice, especially doing it without Rose for a few games. But those games were against the Bobcats, Nets, Hornets, and Bucks. Barely beating the Knicks, losing to the Heat and now the Celtics on national TV—that doesn’t look as good. It’s becoming an issue, and the Bulls are 6-6 against teams over .500. I’m not calling them the Atlanta Falcons or anything, but you have to learn to beat winning teams. To be fair, they were missing Hamilton and Deng for the Heat game and Rose and Hamilton yesterday. They fought and tried to win yesterday, and the Heat game came down to a crazy last two minutes. But injuries are part of it and you have to learn to play with them.

The good thing about the Bulls is that they’re 23-7, first in the conference and a half game behind the Thunder for best in the league. They’ve played an exhausting 20 road games and have had a healthy Rose-Hamilton-Deng-Boozer-Noah lineup for a total of five games. I still think Hamilton solves their biggest issue, which is the need for another scorer and capable ballhandler in the backcourt with Rose. He’s also an excellent passer, giving them quality ball movement at all five starting positions. Improved play from C.J. Watson, Carlos Boozer, and Ronnie Brewer also helps the cause. Healthy, this team puts five double figure scorers in the starting lineup and five quality players off the bench. But you have to play when you’re not healthy, and nothing excuses a weak, fatigued effort against this geriatric Celtics on the first Sunday of not-football.

All-Star Reserves: Not Bad

Thursday night, I traveled up to scenic Evanston, IL, to take my brother out for his 21st birthday. I missed most of the Celtics-Lakers game, which came down to the wire, but I if I wanted to watch an over-40 league game, I’d go to the YMCA. I didn’t really watch OKC-Sacramento, either (we get it, guys, you both have a lot of cows. No need to fight over it so much).

What I was excited about, though, were All-Star reserve choices, selected by NBA coaches and announced on TNT that night. I missed it because I was with my brother, but in between slurping raw oysters and slugging martinis like I was trying to make him puke in front of Richard Nixon’s campaign strategists, I would see what ESPN calls “The Lead,” where they’d say “Love, Nowitzki lead West bench. Pierce, Bosh among East reserves.” It literally said that. No mention of Russell Westbrook, LaMarcus Aldridge, or anyone who is having a better season than Dirk (hint: I’m having a better season than Dirk). Like a Bosh and Pierce were just “among” the East reserves. Then again, why should anyone pay attention to tough defense, like Andre Iguodala, Luol Deng, and Roy Hibbert play? No, we just want a couple of stars “among” the reserves, like how the apes at the end of Rise of the Planet of the Apes were “among” the San Francisco redwood forest.

So when I got home and saw the full list, I was astonished.

It’s hard to remember when this last happened, but I agree with pretty much all of the coaches’ picks. I take issue with three, but really, I’m fine with two of those. I thought Josh Smith, because of his half-maturity this season—meaning no more 3-point shots, better defense, more efficient scoring—has had more of an impact on the Hawks still being relevant with Al Horford out for the season. The coaches thought Joe Johnson was a bigger deal. Fine. No issues, except I’d rather watch Josh Smith dunk than Joe Johnson shoot threes. Unrelated, has there ever been a more boring set of names for a 1-2 on a team? You can’t really call them Johnson or Smith, and you can’t call them Joe or Josh. So you go by their remarkably unremarkable full names, which is remarkable because the Hawks have been remarkably unremarkable since the days of Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb.

In the West, I completely, thoroughly, 100% despise picking Dirk Nowitzki as a pick. He’s had an absolutely atrocious season and he’s been out of shape and injured. He’s taken time off just to “get his knees right.” Understandable for a guy who’s 80 years old, but not really okay for a guy who won a Finals MVP last June. The only, repeat only, reason for Dirk to get picked, is for the sake of his resume. As in, “Ok, you’re a future Hall of Famer, you’re old and tired from a grueling postseason, we’ll give you the pick for the sake of your resume on the wink-nod understanding that you’ll decline so you can take the weekend off and let someone deserving take your spot, like Paul Millsap or James Harden or Paul Millsap or Paul Millsap.” If Dirk doesn’t decline the invitation/fake an injury, it means he’s a liar who puts individual glory over team success and we can all start saying bad things about him. But I really think he’ll graciously appreciate the pick, decline the invitation, and just sort of enjoy himself courtside at every All-Star weekend event, because he does care about team success, he knows it’s all about chips at this point, and he hasn’t been able to bend his damn knees all season. So Paul Millsap, let me be the first to congratulate you on your first All-Star selection, pending whether or not David Stern actually watches the league he governs.

The pick I really hate is Deron Williams. I get that he’s putting up 21 and 8, but he’s also getting four turnovers a game, hates playing in his home gym, approaches every game with indifference but then will put himself over his team to try to go at other point guards. Nothing good is coming out of New Jersey right now, and you’re rewarding their superstar point guard for it? I don’t get it. Not to risk Skip Bayless-level foaming at the mouth, but it’s just rewarding petulance by only paying attention to major statistical categories. I’d prefer if they picked Rondo, and even he’s not really deserving. Kyrie Irving is having a better season on a better team putting up better numbers. It’s absolutely inexcusable. If D-Will and Dwight end up on the same team this summer, gear up for some virtriol, dear readers.

The Bulls return to the UC Tuesday againest the Kings. Let’s all hope for a bounceback game.