Allen Iverson was humbled Wednesday having to sign with a team that will struggle to win 30 games next season. Iverson signed a one-year deal for 3.5 million with the Memphis Grizzlies and what we should take from this is a resounding yell. No one is bigger than the NBA and this league can humble you quickly if you’re perceived as a potential problem.
When Iverson finally retires from the NBA, he will go down as the toughest and most durable player for his size in the history of the game. I honestly thought that Iverson would last less than 10 years because of the way he threw his body around. He will make this upcoming year his 14th and at 34 years old, he is still one of the best conditioned players in the league. The 27 points he has averaged in those 13 seasons are as gaudy as it gets for a big-time scorer, but you also can’t ignore the fact he has averaged 2.2 steals and 6 assists. Those numbers will definitely put him in the Hall of Fame when he decides to leave the game.
There is one stat attributed to Iverson that quite honestly cost him an opportunity to sign with a contending team and most likely will cause head coach Lionel Hollins some migraines during the course of this upcoming season… That statistic is under the minutes column. Iverson has averaged an insane 41 minutes a game through his career. He has only averaged less than 40 minutes per game twice. Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest ever, averaged over 40 minutes only three times and that was early in his career.
This stat is mindboggling. Iverson has probably run the longest distance of any NBA player over the last 13 seasons. Now I assume readers are wondering, why this stat is the cause of Iverson not getting a better opportunity? Well, I can pretty much surmise that if we polled every coach that Iverson has played for, they would say they’d rather have played AI 35 to 37 minutes instead of 41.
Playing Iverson 36 minutes a game would have given a role player a chance to prolong his career, given a coach a chance to share the ball and satisfy some of Iverson’s teammates. But most importantly, it would have saved some miles on a guy that plays at 100 miles per hour. Sitting Iverson just five extra minutes would have shaved off 4,430 minutes, which is basically a year and half.
Here is the easy question… Why did they play him that many minutes? The obvious reason is that Iverson refused to come out of ball games without a fight. He imposed his will and desire to play each and every minute on every coach that he has had and now that has stopped him from being courted by the contending teams.
I wish that at least one coach had dared to stand up to him and gotten him use to playing less minutes, because there are numerous teams that could use Iverson in a sixth man role. I understand the mentality and I definitely fought off the decision of Utah assistant coach Phil Johnson to move me to the bench a quarter of a way through my career when I was a member of the Sacramento Kings. I was playing 36 minutes and all of sudden it was cut to 30. I thank Phil to this day because it allowed me to play 17 years and still have solid production, but most importantly it taught me the importance of understanding what it took to play a role and not have to be the star.
Playing a role is foreign to Iverson. He has always taken all the shots and secured almost every minute at his position. Contending teams like Boston, Orlando, Cleveland, Lakers, Spurs and Dallas could all use a player the caliber of Iverson in a 20-minute-take-plenty-of-shots role. That way they could control his off nights by just sitting him down. What scared most of these top teams is that Iverson would pout and become a serious problem on and off the floor if they sat him for a prolonged period during game.
Iverson should use this year to prove to all the contenders that he will be willing to back up OJ Mayo and Mike Conley. That he would be willing to mentor and show leadership and become a top sixth man candidate if given the chance next year in his 15th season.
As Gary Payton would say, the Cavaliers are flowing. They are in a world by themselves right now. Life is good and waking up in the morning is sunny even when it is raining. Athletes live for this feeling, they crave for it and the LeBron-led Cavs are living the dream at the moment. They have eight straight playoff wins by double figures, leading to first and second round sweeps – which have put the them in elite company among great teams like the Lakers, Celtics and Sixers of past seasons.
But the question remains… Can they continue to dominate and win their first NBA championship? I think they have all the major ingredients, but I will put my support, beliefs and emotions aside for the sake of my article… And probably bring out the emotions of Cavalier fans.
I can make the statement that no team has performed with the machine-like structure of the Cavaliers in putting away Detroit and Atlanta, but I can also say Detroit had a down year and was in total disarray coming into the postseason. I can add that the Atlanta Hawks were a banged up team, especially after Game 2 when Joe Johnson suffered a severe ankle sprain.
I then can check myself and say they dominated both teams and put them away quickly like a great team would under those circumstances, so you can’t fault them for who they play and the breaks they have gotten. Why? Because they earned it with the best record in the league and a 39-2 record at home.
You see, that’s what great sports fans do… They second guess and try to justify why an individual or team is so good.
What we should do is not try to find reasons to say a team is overrated, but research and figure out why a team has played so well.
So I will just come out and say it. And then tell you why I feel this way.
My take: The Cavaliers are indeed the best team in the playoffs and will win their first title. Here’s why…
They have the best all-around player in the game in Lebron James. I wrote an article a few years ago talking about his inability to shoot the ball from the perimeter and that it would keep him from becoming quite possibly the greatest player ever. Well, he answered that argument because he has become a very good shooter with endless range, thus making him virtually un guardable anywhere on the court. Also, he has become the game’s best leader. Do you see how his teammates jump up and down with excitement every time he shows them something special. That tells me they genuinely adore him and that is huge in professional sports.
Danny Ferry has surrounded him with catch-and-shoot players. I wrote an open letter article to Ferry also a few years ago telling him to stop trying to put clones like Larry Hughes around LeBron and go get him some shooters. Well, he has so many good shooters now (like Mo Williams, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak) that Sasha Pavlovic and Daniel Gibson, two mainstays from the Finals run a few years ago, struggle to get prime time minutes.
They are extremely physical, which allows head coach Mike Brown to play two ways if he wants. He can go small and speed up the game or he can go big with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao, Joe Smith or Ben Wallace. This allows Brown to be prepared for a small Celtic team or a big Orlando frontline in the conference finals, and then adjusting to the size of a Laker big frontline or the ultra-physical Denver Nuggets.
Versatility is the key and that is why the Cavaliers have proven all year that they are the team to beat. Boston Celtic fans might ask, if Kevin Garnett was still in the lineup would I be making this statement? I would say yes without hesitation. Why? I think the Celtics are out of gas and I felt this way before Garnett got injured.
The Lakers have beaten the Cavaliers twice this season and should have the mental edge, but I believe that is fool’s gold. If you remember, the Cavaliers beat San Antonio twice a few years ago and got swept in the Finals against them. The Cavaliers have the bodies to fight Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol and the Cavaliers I believe have a better advantage in the role-player department, especially off the bench.
In my opinion, the Denver Nuggets present the toughest challenge to the Cavaliers because they are the most physical team left in the playoffs and they can score. The challenge for them is… Can they emotionally stabilize themselves in a series against the Lakers? I say they will not and that will cost them a perfect opportunity to pull a major upset.
Let’s hail to the King. He has made us pause on how good it was back when Magic, Bird and Michael made us stand up and cheer, but we can’t anoint him yet because he has not accomplished the ultimate prize like those three did.
It is pretty obvious that the mindset of these two teams are direct opposites. The Cavaliers are hungry and willing to please while the Pistons seem like a group ready for a vacation. I continue to laugh at people who think the NBA season starts in April. The reason the Cavaliers are good is because of the consistency they have developed during the year and the reason Detroit is playing poorly is because they treated the season like a training camp. I continue to remind people about how special Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Hakeem Olajawon, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan are. They never lost the hunger to win multiple championships. This Piston team has proven to us that they are a content group and the Cavaliers should sweep them if they don’t let down their guard.
The Pistons are paying a serious price for losing the leadership of Chauncey Billups. Combine that with the mistake of not drafting Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh in 2003 and Joe Dumars now has to blow up this team next year. I love Antonio McDyess, but the move he made by forcing Denver to buy out his contract to go back to Detroit will go down as one of the worst personal decisions he will ever make in his life.
I continue to marvel at LeBron James. He is on par with Kobe Bryant as the smartest basketball player in the NBA. We are watching a combination of skill and power that this game has never seen. The 38-8-7 night he had in Game 1 was a message to the rest of the playoff teams that King James is on a mission.
Chicago vs. Boston
I thought Chicago made a mistake when they took Derrick Rose over Michael Beasley. I understood the marketing aspect of it all, but I still thought Beasley was the right choice. Well, I was dead wrong. Rose has proven to me all year that he was the right pick and after the 36 points and 11 assists he put on Boston in Game 1, I would tend to think the Celtics are believers as well. Doc Rivers made a remark last year when people were applauding what a great coaching job he did in the Celtics championship run… He said, “I ran the same stuff the year before and got blasted for doing a poor coaching job.”
You do not have success in this league without great players. Kevin Garnett is a great player and most importantly is the emotional leader of the Celtics. Without Garnett, the Celtics are a 5th or 6th seed. So it is no surprise the Bulls were able to beat them and it was no surprise that Rose shredded their tough defense. I love Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, but they will need some tremendous defensive help from Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe and the rest of the guys to make up for the loss of Garnett.
The Bulls are young and hungry and as I mentioned above in reference to the Pistons, it is hard to win back-to-back championships. I still think the Celtics have enough to win this series, but they will not if Rose continues to attack the rim and create opportunities for his teammates. This has quickly become the best series to keep an eye on.
(I wonder if Stephon Marbury realizes Derrick Rose is a mirror image of what people thought he would become with his combination of scoring, defense and the leadership he has portrayed this season).
Orlando vs. Philadelphia
I missed this game and I was extremely surprised when I saw the final score, but Philly has made a consistent effort to change people’s opinions come playoff time. Last year they had Detroit on the brink of elimination before they ran out of nerves and gas.
Orlando will now find out how difficult they are to beat. This was the worst matchup for the Magic because Philly is better at what Orlando likes to do. The edge Orlando has is Dwight Howard, but if he does not have monster games the Magic are in serious trouble.
The keys to this series are Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. They cannot continue to shoot poorly and most importantly they have to get back in transition to keep Andre Miller out of the paint. Miller is the most underrated point guard in the NBA and he is a potential triple-double every game he plays.
The Magic better use the length of Lewis and Turkoglu to get more interior shots to slow the pace or the Sixers or they will suffer. Also, would someone please tell Rafer Alston that he is a point guard and not a shooter? He took 15 shots and made 5 and he shoots 38 percent for the year. Stan Van Gundy also needs to calm down or he will prove Shaq’s assessment of being a nervous coach down the stretch to be correct. A good team like the Magic should not be blowing 14-point leads in the fourth quarter. I am reminded that most great coaches will say, give me a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. The pressure is on them to solidify the win.
I think Orlando will win the series, but it will go 6 or 7, which will kill their chances to stay fresh enough to deal with Cleveland in the conference finals.
Atlanta vs. Miami
The Miami Heat are arriving in Atlanta on Wednesday, I assume, because they sent their junior varsity team on Sunday and the Atlanta Hawks spanked them and cruised to one of the easiest playoff victories I have seen in a while. Josh Smith had his own personal dunk contest going on throughout the game.
The Atlanta Hawks are a dangerous team and the scare they put into the Celtics last year is giving them the confidence to excel in this year’s playoffs. This Hawks’ version is much better defensively and extremely unselfish. Mike Woodson has done one of the best coaching jobs this year and it showed in his defensive plan against Dwyane Wade in Game 1. Wade was 8 for 21 in a devastating display of offense and defense from the Hawks.
The Heat played like a young team and left Wade alone on an island. That cannot continue to happen or this series will be over in a hurry. This victory is bittersweet for the Hawks because the challenge for Mike Woodson will be to get his team to believe that Game 1 was a mirage and the real Heat team will show up on Wednesday.
I do not expect the Heat to shoot 36 percent again and struggle from behind the three-point line (4-23), but if they do they will need to grab more than the five offensive rebounds they had in Game 1.
LA Lakers vs. Utah
The Utah Jazz will be swept out of the first round quickly if they continue to shoot 39 percent while giving up 55 percent to the powerful Lakers. Logic tells me that this trend will not continue to happen especially if Mehmet Okur gets back in the lineup for Game 2. The Lakers toyed with the Jazz in Game 1. The Jazz hung around and probably could have made it a game if they did not blow the many opportunities the Lakers gave them around the basket.
The Lakers’ length is obviously a major problem for the Jazz, so in that instance they will need to get better outside shooting from Deron Williams, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver and CJ Miles.
The Laker bench had 33 points to offset the 37 the Jazz bench produced. Utah has no chance to win one game if that trend continues because the Lakers starters will have a stranglehold on that scoring advantage all series long.
Trevor Ariza was huge with his 21 points on 8 for 10 shooting. The Lakers are looking to close this series out fast, but they better be very cautious about any letdown in Game 2 because Utah is the most difficult place to play, especially come playoff time. L.A does not need that kind of stress in their run for another championship.
New Orleans vs. Denver
This was a beat down of surprising proportions, but not unexpected if both Chauncey Billups and JR Smith shoot the ball like they did in Game 1. I think the Nuggets would have beaten anyone shooting the ball like that. Billups sent a serious message to Chris Paul and the Hornets by draining 8 three-point shots and scoring 36 points. Smith did not shoot it well. He was 0-7 from behind the arc, but he made some acrobatic jumpers in the third quarter to put the Hornets out of their misery and think about Game 2.
The Nuggets are a volatile team and usually come playoff time those teams eventually lose, but Denver plays emotional/physical defense and the Hornets seemed to back down from it in Game 1. Don’t expect it to happen again. I picked the Hornets to win this series and I still see it happening, especially if they can keep Carmelo Anthony under wraps, which is not easy. Also Billups will continue to play well, but not to the tune of 8 for 9 three-pointers and 36 points. And that means others will have to step up for the Nuggets to win the second game.
The Hornets’ goal is to win one game away because they know the Nuggets have struggled on the road this year and the emotion they rely on can backfire when things are not going well for them.
David West has to become a more physical presence in protecting Chris Paul from the over excessive contact from Kenyon Martin and Dahntay Jones. I am sure the best officials will be working the rest of this series because it’s about to become a fist-fight.
San Antonio vs. Dallas
The benches will be the difference in this series and the Mavericks have a big advantage as it showed in Game 1. The Mavericks led by Jose Juan Barea, Brandon Bass and likely Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry outscored the Spurs bench 39 to 14.
The Spurs are a beaten-down bunch and the patchwork job that Gregg Popovich has done over the last few years has finally taken a toll. Without Manu Ginobili, I can’t imagine the Spurs beating the Mavericks trying to rely on just Tim Duncan and Tony Parker.
The Mavericks have too many weapons and most importantly they are playing excellent basketball. We have to admire how good Duncan and Parker are. If you told me that 36-year-old Michael Finley, Matt Bonner and Roger Mason would be starting alongside them in a playoff series, I would have said they needed to explore what vacation destination they would be headed to after Round 1.
If Popovich finds a way to win this series, he will definitely become a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He already is the best smoke-and-mirrors coach I have ever seen, but if Josh Howard can stay healthy with that gimpy ankle the Spurs will need much more than that to survive a first-round ouster.
The player of the game was Erick Dampier. His 10 points and 11 rebounds were big, but his ability to keep Tim Duncan off the free throw line was huge. Duncan had only 1 attempt in 37 minutes.
Portland vs. Houston
Aaron Brooks is the real deal. People wonder why the Rockets gave Rafer Alston away. Now you know why. Brooks has replaced the offensive production of Tracy McGrady but in a more efficient way. The Blazers have no answer for Brooks and that might be the difference in this series before it’s over. He was 10 of 17 with 7 assists and 2 turnovers and I thought jumpstarted a Rocket team that all of sudden is looking like the one team that will make it extremely difficult for the Lakers before it is over.
I can’t ignore the perfect game Yao Ming sent the Blazers way in just 24 minutes of action. He did not miss a shot. 9-9 from the field and 6-6 from the line for 24 points.
The physical presence of the Rockets and the youthfulness of the Blazers jumped off the screen in Game 1 and it will be interesting to see how the Blazers react from the beating they received.
LaMarcus Aldridge will have to show up. He was a nervous puppy Saturday and I don’t expect him to be that way in Game 2, but will it be enough?
The Blazers win with energy, but the Rockets create a major problem with their half-court offense. Don’t be surprised if Nate McMillan gives seldom-used rookie Jerryd Bayless a look to try and put some pressure on Aaron Brooks on the offensive end if he gets it going again in Game 2.
I still give the Rockets the edge in this series based on experience.
We are winding down the NBA season and one thing seems certain… The Cavaliers, Lakers, Celtics, Magic and Spurs top the charts. There are some wild cards like Houston, Denver, New Orleans, Utah, Portland and Atlanta that might compete and throw a scare during the playoffs at one of the top seeds, but chances are it will not happen because these teams have a combined record of 100-115 on the road and in the playoffs that inability to get a victory will spell doom for them.
The Cavaliers are my team of choice going into the playoffs and it is not all about probable MVP LeBron James. It is about the Cavaliers support group. They have the best support group surrounding a superstar of any team in the league and that is why the Cleveland Cavaliers might indeed win their first NBA championship this season.
Every one of the five top teams has a nucleus of three All-Star caliber players. Cleveland has LeBron, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mo Williams. Lakers: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. Celtics: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Magic: Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. Spurs: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili – but that will not be enough to win it all.
The Cavaliers are the better team after we recognize the nucleus of each team. They rise above the other four when it comes to three-point shooting and versatile big men that anchor their stingy defense. Looks like a championship team to me.
Boston won last year with versatility and the Cavaliers have that same blueprint this year. They have been dominant with a 34-1 home record and 59-13 overall.
Cleveland brings a plethora of big defenders plus great three-point shooting to balance the dominance of James. That will allow them to protect him against constant double-teams and also allow them to grab second and third opportunities on the glass. These ingredients combined with their great defense (91.2 ppg allowed) and taking care of the ball (only 13 turnovers a game) are huge if you want to move on to the Finals.
Yes, the Lakers can boast of having some big bodies and a low-post game the Cavaliers lack, but that is only if Andrew Bynum can return from injury, which does not look good at the moment.
The Cavaliers are loaded with Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace, Joe Smith, Anderson Varejao and JJ Hickson and all can cause damage in a variety of ways, which gives head coach Mike Brown many options.
The Celtics can brag about Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe, Glen Davis and new addition Mikki Moore, but I give the Cavaliers the edge and mainly because of Garnett’s health.
I also believe the Cavaliers have the best collection of three-point shooters. Mo Williams, Delonte West, Sasha Pavlovic, Booby Gibson and Wally Szczerbiak are all money from beyond the arc.
The Lakers can get hot with Fisher, but Sasha Vujacic and the rest of the Laker bench have been inconsistent behind the arc.
The team that should really worry everyone is San Antonio because they will enter the playoffs well rested, but I believe they don’t have enough fire power off the bench to beat the Lakers, Celtics or Cleveland.
The Cavaliers also realize that the Celtics and Magic will face one another before meeting up with them so it would be huge if they could utilize that great home record (34-1) and put away their likely opponents (Chicago or Detroit) in the first round before they deal with probably a tough Atlanta team in the conference semifinals.
The Lakers are privately hoping the Dallas Mavericks garner the 8th spot over the Suns because that will allow them to avoid an emotional and physical confrontation with Shaquille O’Neal and then face Houston or Portland before probably facing San Antonio. Without a healthy Bynum, Pau Gasol will be exhausted having been pounded by Shaq, Yao Ming or Greg Oden before dealing with Tim Duncan.
The road is set and the Cavaliers have put themselves in a great confident position winning 11 in a row and having the best overall record with only one lost at home. That alone should establish them as the favorites.
There is no doubt in my mind who reins as the best team at the moment and now the question will be… Can King James win his first title and start the climb to greatest player ever?
The Suns are back to Seven Seconds or Less and after a 4-2 record since replacing Terry Porter with Alvin Gentry, it seems to be working because they lit up the scoreboard for 642 points and an average of 128 points per game prior to the Lakers loss Thursday night. Looks like this collection of players got accustomed to playing only one way, especially with Steve Nash running the show.
The thought of scoring 140 points in three games in a row after the change in coaches and philosophy had a lot of basketball enthusiasts shaking their heads in disbelief, but this is who the Suns are and they have welcomed the change with an exuberance that has Phoenix fans feeling hopeful about the playoffs despite losing Amare Stoudemire to an eye injury for eight weeks.
I, for one, thought going into this season and coming off of another playoff loss to the Spurs that the Suns style needed a tweak in order to finally overcome San Antonio – similar to what the Isiah Thomas-led Pistons had to do in order to beat the Larry Bird-led Celtics or the Michael Jordan-led Bulls.
I viewed the combination of Shaquille O’Neal and Amare running the two-man game with Nash on equal basis with Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. I viewed the ability to post up Shaq and spread the floor with shooters as a way of getting high-percentage shots and maintaining a balanced floor, thus improving the transition back to defense and allowing Nash to stay fresh.
Porter was not wrong for trying to change the culture of this team. He just underestimated how tough it would be to communicate the change. I remember when Phil Jackson hired Tex Winter and told Jordan that he wanted to install the triangle offense. It took him a number of games to finally convince Jordan and Scottie Pippen that this system could work and, most importantly, win championships. That’s why I say he is the best coach ever… Because he had to convince arguably the best player ever to change and trust his teammates.
Unlike Jackson, though, Porter took over a winning team and attempted the change – which was and proved to be much more difficult.
Immediate success was the key to keeping the communication lines open and it seemed as if Porter was on the right track with regards to that. The Suns got off to a 8-3 start and although players were skeptical, the wins were piling up. People took notice especially when the Suns opened the season with a road victory at San Antonio. But six losses in their next nine games and five in double figures left them at 11-9. Then doubt and emotion started to cover the locker room.
I did not think it was a huge negative because I was comparing it to the track record of San Antonio and always marveled at how they got off to slow starts and picked up steam as the season went along. Once the playoffs started, they were in full gear and rested. There is plenty of sense in that thinking because I remember Larry Brown once telling me that he needed his teams and players to struggle at times so he could regain their focus to continue to teach and keep them on the track for the goal of winning a championship.
Because they can be off the track, but still moving forward and think everything is still OK when in hindsight a crash was about to happen. I felt the Suns were learning a lesson and would continue to listen and adhere to this new philosophy from Terry Porter and get back on track. Winning 11 out of the next 14 games proved my theory correct.
The Suns were a respectable 22-13 and it seemed Jason Richardson, who came over in the trade for Raja Bell and Boris Diaw, was finding his rhythm within the offense. With a favorable schedule, the Suns were apparently headed towards another 55-win season.
But a loss to Minnesota at home set them on a track where they lost to another five teams playing less than .500 basketball. That cost Porter his job and put the Suns in the position they are in today – fighting for their playoff lives.
The question remains… What is the best fit for this basketball team? Because, yes, they have won four out of six games with Gentry and are averaging 124 points. But the four wins were against sub-.500 teams and both losses were against the best two teams in basketball – the Lakers and Celtics.
Gentry can argue the fact he did not have Amare for either game and Nash was out with a sprained ankle in the Lakers defeat. Based on how this team picked up where it left off last year in reference to the running game, it is pretty obvious they are more comfortable with Seven Seconds or Less and the stats pretty much support their argument.
There are two statistical areas I felt the Suns were deficient in and it seemed to be costing them games: turnovers (16) and allowing opponents to garner more offensive rebounds (-3).
Those numbers, combined with their inability to force turnovers (12) or secure second chance attempts on the glass, left them with close to -7 possessions a game. So if we look at the +1 point differential the Suns have been hovering around all year, we see why weak teams have found a way to grab victories from them.
The last six games those numbers changed in the Suns favor. They have turned the ball over 13 less times than the opposition and they have scored 35 more points off turnovers. They are a +1 in offensive rebounds, which is a huge turnaround from the -3 they had entering those games. So if six contests tell us anything it is that the Suns are more productive all-around when they run. Yes, they will give up more points, but that has always been the beauty of this system – to fool teams into thinking they can score at will, but in the same instance allowing the Suns to rack up 133 points per game in the four wins.
The running game helps the Suns avoid the two-man game teams punish them with when they were a walk-it-up-the-court team, especially the middle pick-and-roll. The list is long… Parker-Duncan, Chris Paul-David West, Deron Williams-Carlos Boozer, Jason Terry-Dirk Nowitzki, Rajon Rondo-Paul Pierce, etcetera… They have all feasted this season on the Suns’ inability to defend it with regularity. The pace of the game baits teams into taking quicker shots and forgetting about what is their bread-and-butter play to get great shots against Phoenix.
The more the Suns can keep the great teams from running pick-and-rolls, the better their chances are of winning against them and that is why this group needs to run despite having arguably the most dominant big man in NBA history in Shaq.
The hope now is Nash will be back soon from a sprained ankle and Phoenix continues to make a run at the final playoff spots, but it will not be easy because the Suns embark on what I think is the most difficult stretch of games any team in the NBA will face this season.
These next two weeks will decide if the Suns have enough to get back in the thick of the race and secure a playoff spot. After playing Toronto tonight, they will play seven straight games beginning with another date with the Los Angeles Lakers at home on March 1 and by March 12. 11 days later they will have faced Orlando, Miami, Houston and San Antonio on the road and come back home to face Dallas and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
If the Suns can weather the storm and at least win three or four of the seven games, then they have a chance to make the playoffs. They seemed to have solved beating up the poor teams and they will get a chance to do just that after this stretch. They will have 17 games left and 10 will be against teams with poor records and six of those games will be at home.
It will be extremely difficult to accomplish this with Amare Stoudemire out the rest of the season, but if they find a way to get to the postseason they will automatically become the most dangerous team to face if Amare returns for the playoffs. How would you like to be the Lakers or Spurs having to deal with Shaq, Amare and Nash for seven games in the first round. Welcome to the Western Conference!
I often wonder why certain friends of mine who have wealth lust for the attention celebrities and athletes receive when they venture out into the public. Well, this is my conscience now 25 years later. But back when I was becoming well known for my abilities in basketball, I longed for it like a drug. Just the thought of people staring at me and screaming my name with joy gave me a sense of pride that is indescribable. Draining a game-winning shot or winning a big game or accomplishing the ultimate goal of winning a championship can put you in a spotlight that can shine brighter than the sun. But unfortunately that’s where your problems can begin if you are not careful.
Why? Well, it is sad to say this but this world has a bunch of individuals that quite frankly do not jump up and down when you make a game-winning shot or sign a big contract.
The hardest thing to do for anyone who gains instant fame and wealth is staying grounded. The people who find a way to stay level-headed are usually the ones who access their subconscious mind.
I would like to think I did just that after making the NBA as a second-round pick of the Kansas City Kings in 1981. I did not get the big contract that my close neighborhood friends Mark Aguirre and Isiah Thomas, who were drafted 1 and 2, received that year. But I went from $0 to thousands in a matter of weeks and that can change anyone.
What’s change? Well, change can happen in many ways, but the change I am talking about is not using your subconscious mind and that is the sum of our past experiences and memories. How simple can that be?
The three of us spent our middle school and high school years on the West Side of Chicago – Mark living in a area called K- town and Isiah and I living in L- town. The letters were meant to identify the fact that each area was defined by the street names beginning with that particular letter.
Those letters also meant you better know someone in that neighborhood if you decided to venture in, because gangs controlled every corner and trouble would be immediately in your future if you slipped.
For us, growing up in those times we had to call on that subconscious mind daily and be ready to react if we sensed any sign of trouble. Basketball was our life and the goal was to survive and achieve two things: win an athletic scholarship and make the NBA.
The challenge was to stay on the straight and narrow by reflecting on past experiences that put us in tough situations and remembering things that happened to not only us , but to family members and close friends. That and blending in with the crowd in terms of staying down to earth was the secret to having a chance to accomplish our goals.
Following those rules still did not stop me from consistently having to encounter tough situations. I was still robbed at gunpoint at least six times while attending middle school and high school, but it cut down my odds drastically.
We played 43 years total in the National Basketball Association without a whimper in terms of off court behavior and that is credited to us following the same rules that enabled us to achieve our goal and, again, that was pay attention to that subconscious mind.
Sadly this is where the example for the majority ends and for a few other athletes begins.
Do I agree that every citizen can bear arms? Yes. Do I agree that those arms should be stuffed in your pants? No. Do I agree that before anyone purchases arms they should have schooling? Yes.
Those questions are important because I think it would enlighten athletes to the true fact that if you carry a gun, it means you are willing to kill someone and face the consequences of doing it. That choice should cause everyone to dig in that subconscious mind and make a sound decision.
I personally think a high number of gun-toting celebrities use the excuse, “It’s for protection.” But realistically it’s just another piece of the wardrobe that garners attention and that’s where I have a huge problem.
The gun is jewelry. It goes along with the cell phones hanging from the belt of the baggy jeans. The gun looks good and matches the interior of the new Bentley or Range Rover. It gives you rhythm when your windows are down and your favorite artist is blasting from your stereo.
The gun is there for beauty and coolness and the last thing an athlete is thinking about is pointing it and making a life changing decision. Why else would a Plaxico Burress fumble his gun in a club and accidentally shoot himself in the leg? He didn’t know that it would be better to have the safety on and maybe more stabilized in a holster or pocket? Did he know the laws said if you take a gun in a public place you are in big trouble? Somehow I would bet he did not know that being cool and so-called protected would eventually cost him his contract and garner him time behind bars. And to add icing on the cake, a bullet in the leg. Plaxico was his own security and it cost him $30 million when he could have paid $500.
The excuse athletes/celebrities use for carrying a weapon is caused by their inability to remember what it took for them to get this far in life and that is a serious problem.
If we research most of the gun problems and incidents among athletes, they usually happen around nightclubs. Every person, athletes toom, has a right to party.
But here is where it changes and most athletes/ celebrities do get it right…
Rules of thumb!
- Be careful about going to a club with a history of problems.
- Don’t walk in the club with $100,000 in jewelry on your body.
- Respect the other patrons and their significant others.
- Hire club security and do not give your unlicensed entourage the thought that they are your security. They are not trained to calm the situation, they only enhance it with bravado.
- Don’t drink excessively.
- Don’t frequent the same club every week
- Don’t close the club down. If you didn’t meet the girl of your dreams by midnight, what makes you think you will by milling around a parking lot at 2 am because she has gone home.
- Hire a driver.
This is important for anyone, but for a celebrity/athlete it should be the Bible. Athletes know full well that when the lights come on and the jewelry is shining and the Bentley is out front, some people get jealous and drunk people get real jealous. That sometimes leads to confrontations that could have been avoided if the athlete followed simple rules of avoidance.
That’s why I frown at guns, but this is where I agree with guns.
If I go to school and have a licensed weapon that I can legally carry in non-public places and someone follows me home as they did with NBA players Antoine Walker and Eddy Curry… Well, in that case, I say use it well as it was intended and don’t hold back. That’s our constitutional right, but understanding avoidance and restraint is what our athletes need to prove first and then we say justifiably so!
It costs nothing other than using what you already have, your subconscious mind.
This year’s MVP winner will be the most scrutinized of any year we have seen.
Steve Nash coming from out of nowhere to win back-to-back was definitely an eye opener two years ago, but with so many teams and players having great seasons the lucky winner this year will be treated like an elected official because he will not have over 51 percent in favor of his nomination.
Why?
This season is sick with great stories involving players and teams. Everyone has their own formula in deciding who the front runner with one month to go is. So I came up with my own formula to come to my pick as MVP.
Once I came up with this formula I voted without looking at statistics the first time to see who would come out on top. The second time I looked at the stats and I still came up with the same player.
I am sure readers will beat up my method and abuse my choice if their favorite player did not get the nod, but I will tell you just like the NCAA told Arizona State when they got omitted from the 64 team field… This is my formula and you have to live with my pick – well at least in this article.
I think we all can agree that five players stick out brightly when it comes to the finalists. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady are the strongest candidates.
McGrady beat out Amare Stoudemire, Baron Davis, Tim Duncan and Deron Williams for the fifth player just based on what the Rockets have done in regards to this 22-game winning streak.
I took 11 categories and graded each player with a rating of 1 to 10 and then added the total. Then I saw who the winner was.
That seems so simple, right?
Well, without these so-called calculations… If someone asked me who I thought was the best NBA player on the planet? Without hesitation I would declare Kobe Bryant and then follow it up with a statement like, “LeBron James will past him very soon like a locomotive once his defense continues to improve.”
I would also mention that Amare Stoudemire might give both of them a run for their money if he continues the torrid pace he is on.
That would be my basic armchair fan response, but I should get credit for researching further and not voting with my heart.
Although not proven by numbers, categories like crunch time, showmanship and wow factor are a major part of the greatness of a player.
Example… Even though LeBron has scored more points than anyone in the league in the fourth quarter, which player would you feel comfortable with taking the last shot?
Which player gives you the impression that his attitude an effort is like Groundhog Day in that every time you watch him you notice it.
These are the things I think about when I pick my MVP and now you have the chance to dispute my choice or agree wholeheartedly that Chris Paul should win the MVP if the season ended today.
Paul (100 points) narrowly beat out Kobe (99) and Lebron (97) in my voting. And as I stated earlier, I voted twice without looking at stats and then taking them into consideration. He edged Kobe in the winning record category for the simple fact the Hornets have blown out the defending champion Spurs twice this season. That was the difference.
LeBron has to improve his individual defense if he wants to jump over Kobe and Paul in the next few years. He also suffered with the subpar record the Cavaliers have at the moment. Yes, they have had injuries. But didn’t McGrady lose Yao Ming and they still have kept winning with virtually no other stars in the more difficult Western Conference.
Bottom line… Chris Paul is such a joy to watch and observe. I really love the way Paul leads his team. He is constantly communicating with teammates and coaches and will confront them without hesitation. I have not seen a little man do that since Isiah Thomas led the Pistons to back-to-back championships. The reason Paul can command this audience is because those players realize he not only leads by example, but he makes them better. I can recall only a handful of players that had this ability. They are Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Steve Nash.
They all have one thing in common. They have MVP awards. Chris Paul should receive his this season.
August 10, 2007 @ 7:32 am
· Filed under Uncategorized
Reggie Miller can not only come back and play, but he would be successful without a doubt. Why? Simple. He can make open shots. That’s what the NBA is all about right now anyway. Give the ball to your stars and everyone else gets out the way. Reggie can get out of the way and be productive better than any player in the game right now. Heck, I can put a Celtic uniform on right now and get 10 points a game just by staying out of the way. The difference between me and Reggie, though, is my legs will not allow me to run back to the other end and move laterally. I am praying every night for a medical breakthrough with regards to new knees that make you feel like you are 25 again. But Reggie Miller can do it. He is one of the best conditioned athletes ever and he has not stopped being athletically tuned since his retirement. What most people don’t understand is you can never be in NBA shape unless you are playing the NBA game. That is the major hurdle for any returning player and the only ones I see right now based on weight and history of toughness are Reggie Miller, Charles Oakley and Scottie Pippen.
Reggie would fit in quite nicely with Boston. Can you imagine spotting him up at the three-point line. Players would have to leave him to help out on the Big Three. Pick your poison. If Doc Rivers puts Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Miller and Eddie House on the floor at the same time… Who do you leave? Obviously this would not be a starting lineup, but during the middle and end of the game it would be a nightmare for any defense.
I am rooting for Reggie, but I am also rooting for Allan Houston, who left the game much too early with a bad knee. Heck, why don’t the Celtics chase him too? Then they can add a few bruisers inside to go with Scot Pollard and Big Baby from LSU and look out Eastern Conference.
Reggie Miller is one of my favorite teammates ever and I personally think he should do it and help Boston in its quest to get back on the map. If he comes back, I predict he will play 20 to 25 minutes a game and average 10 to 14 points. If he stays at TNT, I predict he will be OK in that medium as well.
That’s why I say… Do it Reggie! You only live once so keep living and playing the sport you love and just maybe the Celtics can shock the world.
Allen Iverson was humbled Wednesday having to sign with a team that will struggle to win 30 games next season. Iverson signed a one-year deal for 3.5 million with the Memphis Grizzlies and what we should take from this is a resounding yell. No one is bigger than the NBA and this league can humble you quickly if you’re perceived as a potential problem.
As Gary Payton would say, the Cavaliers are flowing. They are in a world by themselves right now. Life is good and waking up in the morning is sunny even when it is raining. Athletes live for this feeling, they crave for it and the LeBron-led Cavs are living the dream at the moment. They have eight straight playoff wins by double figures, leading to first and second round sweeps 
Cleveland vs. Detroit
The Suns are back to Seven Seconds or Less and after a 4-2 record since replacing Terry Porter with Alvin Gentry, it seems to be working because they lit up the scoreboard for 642 points and an average of 128 points per game prior to the Lakers loss Thursday night. Looks like this collection of players got accustomed to playing only one way, especially with Steve Nash running the show.
This year’s MVP winner will be the most scrutinized of any year we have seen.
Reggie Miller can not only come back and play, but he would be successful without a doubt. Why? Simple. He can make open shots. That’s what the NBA is all about right now anyway. Give the ball to your stars and everyone else gets out the way. Reggie can get out of the way and be productive better than any player in the game right now. Heck, I can put a Celtic uniform on right now and get 10 points a game just by staying out of the way. The difference between me and Reggie, though, is my legs will not allow me to run back to the other end and move laterally. I am praying every night for a medical breakthrough with regards to new knees that make you feel like you are 25 again. But Reggie Miller can do it. He is one of the best conditioned athletes ever and he has not stopped being athletically tuned since his retirement. What most people don’t understand is you can never be in NBA shape unless you are playing the NBA game. That is the major hurdle for any returning player and the only ones I see right now based on weight and history of toughness are Reggie Miller, Charles Oakley and Scottie Pippen.