Watching Blake Griffin ascend the stage Thursday night at the NBA Draft, don a Los Angeles Clippers hat, shake David Stern’s hand and offer a wondrous smile to the folks in attendance and watching at home, seasoned NBA observers had to think: does this boy have any idea what he’s in for?
It isn’t just the fact that he is now an LA Clipper. That was pretty much a foregone conclusion after the lottery. Even the Clippers aren’t going to trade away the No. 1 pick in a draft that is, well, one player deep. But throw in the fact that Griffin is the No. 1 overall pick and a Clipper and that is a combustible mix, the draft equivalent of hooking Clippers owner Donald Sterling up to a lie detector machine.
You are just waiting for everything to explode.
It’s not Griffin’s fault, to be sure. I suppose his agent could have made a stand, although that tends not to work these days; remember how Dan Fegan said that Yi Jianlian was never going to go to Milwaukee? And the Clippers do reside in Los Angeles, which is not to be confused with, say, Milwaukee or Minneapolis.
But do you think Griffin knows that there is as much space devoted in the Clippers Media Guide to player numbers as there is to playoff history? Do you think he knows that of the last 10 lottery picks the Clippers have made, and they make one just about every year, only three are still on the roster?
And do you think he has any idea about the previous two No. 1 overall picks the Clippers had – and what happened to them? It’s not promising.
Danny Manning was the Blake Griffin of 1988, except even better. He was a 6-foot-10 magician with the ball, drawing comparisons to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. He was coming off a season which saw his college team, the University of Kansas, win the NCAA title. He was as consensus a No. 1 pick as there was – and the Clippers did not flinch in making this pick. It was the right thing to do.
This was, however, before the days of the rookie salary cap and the late, great, Ron Grinker represented Manning. It was a bit of a change for Grinker, whose clientele usually consisted of borderline NBA guys. (He was dubbed the ‘Broadway Danny Rose’ of agents for that reason.) Grinker and Sterling went nose to nose amid threats of holdouts and lines in the sand and, eventually, Manning signed.
Twenty-six games into his rookie year, Manning blew out his right knee, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament. His season was over; so was his team’s. The Clippers were in a stretch where they would go 1-28 in the months of January and February.
Although Manning recovered and played well enough in Los Angeles to be chosen to make two All-Star Game appearances in 1993 and 1994 – the latter coming a few days before he was traded to Atlanta for Dominique Wilkins – it is the knee injury that sticks to his Clipper Days. (You would be hard pressed to find an article from that time that doesn’t mention Manning and Tony Daly, the Clippers’ orthopedist, in the same sentence.) Oh, yes, the the Clippers made the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time with Manning. They lost in the first round both times.
Manning never became the star di tutti that everyone thought he’d be. He picked up a Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1998 with the Suns, a few years after he tore the ACL in his other knee during a practice in Phoenix. He ended up playing for seven teams and it’s safe to say he won’t have to spend any time waiting for the phone call from Springfield. But no one – and I mean, no one- would have dared make that statement on Draft Night 1988.
Then came 1998, a decade later, and the Clippers again had the No. 1 overall pick. Among the names available that night were Paul Pierce, Mike Bibby, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison and a young, unknown German named Dirk Nowitzki. Confronted with all these possibilities, the Clippers instead selected Michael Olowokandi, from the University of the Pacific, mainly because he was (a) 7-feet tall and (b) full of promise.
Five years later, after playing his final game for the Clippers, Olowokandi was still (a) 7-feet tall and (b) full of promise. A few years later, he was out of the NBA, as Pierce was becoming the MVP of the NBA Finals and the other aforementioned fellows were annual All-Stars or All-NBA selections.
The Clippers weren’t alone in their interest in Olowokandi. He was pleasant chap from across the pond who was appealing because he supposedly was uncorrupted by the AAU culture of American basketball and, thus, open to the possibilities of actually learning. (Read: The anti-Stephon Marbury.) Five seasons in a Clipper uniform, only one of which could be deemed remotely productive, left him with the reputation of, well, a pleasant chap open to learning. He still is that.
But while Carter, Pierce, Nowitzki and Bibby all won awards and/or took their teams into the playoffs, the Clippers remained the Clippers. Their best year with Olowokandi resulted in 39 wins. There were no playoff appearances in five years. More to the point, the Clippers never bothered to re-sign the kid – almost automatic with a No. 1 pick these days, even if your name is Andrew Bogut and you’ve done nothing to deserve am extension – and then let him go to free agency, unrestricted. Kevin McHale, then the Timberwolves’ basketball boss, signed Olowokandi, doing a good deed to his friend and college roomie, agent Bill Duffy.
Hopefully, for the Clippers and Blake Griffin, this will be a different story. But it’s hard to make a case for the kid. The Clippers were bad last year and the Western Conference is brutal.
But just when everyone thought things might be changing for the Clippers, after their wonderful playoff run in 2006, things went south again. Franchise stalwart (and the universally loved) Elton Brand ditched them for the 76ers, with the Clippers crying foul (and worse.) Baron Davis came aboard, supposedly to join Brand, and did . . . absolutely nothing. Injuries decimated the team.
But they won the lottery!
And, for all of you basketball-loving fans out there, the address to send Griffin his condolence cards is:
Blake Griffin
Los Angeles Clippers
1111 So. Figueroa St.
Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90015
You have to wonder what Cleveland coach Mike Brown is really thinking when he goes over the game films of the Cavaliers series against Orlando. My guess is that the NBA Coach of the Year is uttering something along the lines of: “Where did my team go?” (There might be a few other words sprinkled in as well.)
The Magic have put Cleveland on the brink of an unwanted and certainly unanticipated May vacation, leading their Eastern Conference Final series 3-1. Only five percent of the teams in Cleveland’s predicament have managed to win the series.
The Magic could just as easily be chilling in Hooterville, awaiting the Western Conference champion, had not LeBron James hit his spectacular buzzer-beater at the end of Game 2. But the Cavaliers are going to need more than James’ heroics to pull this one out. If it’s not already too late, they’re going to need to return to the style of play they showed over 82 games in the regular season and the first eight of the post-season.
They’re going to need to defend.
That is what champions do. That’s what the Celtics did last year and that’s what the Spurs did in winning their multiple titles. That’s what Cleveland indisputably did over the course of the regular season, when the Cavs were arguably the best defensive team in the league. That’s what Cleveland did in the first two rounds of the playoffs, suffocating the Pistons and the Hawks.
But, as James himself noted after the Game 4 loss to Orlando, “we have broken down in areas that we haven’t broken down in all season.” And, amazingly, “we got to get one stop.”
That wasn’t much of a concern for the Cavs – until they ran into the three-point firing Magic, who are shooting with impunity when not dumping it into Dwight Howard. Orlando thus far has managed to do what no one else has managed to do this season – turn the Cavs into Warriors East on defense.
During the regular season, the Cavs led the NBA in points allowed, surrendering 91.4 a game. That was almost two points ahead of No. 2 San Antonio. Cleveland finished second in defensive field goal percenage at 43.06. (The Celtics were at 43.05.) History has shown that these types of teams, as long as they play a little at the other end, tend to do very well in the postseason.
Cleveland then continued its stranglehold ways against the Pistons and the Hawks. Detroit averaged 78 points a game while shooting 41 percent. Atlanta averaged 78.3 points a game while shooting 38.5 percent. Both the Hawks and Pistons went down in four.
That was Cavs Basketball, version 2008-09. Until now.
Orlando has treated the Cleveland defense as it was some mere impediment at a county fair booth. The Magic are averaging 104 points a game – or 26 more per game than Detroit and Atlanta. The Magic are shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 43 percent from three-point territory. Those are numbers that, if maintained, will make Orlando a very, very tough out.
Cleveland looks confused on defense, which is surprising given that Orlando’s preferred style of play is not exactly a trade secret. The Magic like to go inside-out with players who can score at every position. Howard is a certifiable beast who the Cavs have not decided needs to be double-teamed or not. You can book him now for a double-double; he’s had 26 in 31 playoff games.
Orlando’s titular power forward (Rashard Lewis) is shooting an astonishing 58 percent from three-point territory, his last being the dagger at the end of Game 4. The Magic’s so-called “small” forward is the 6-10 Hedo Turkoglu, who, when’s he on his game, is the Turkish Larry Bird. Both present major mismatch headaches.
Joined by starters Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee, that gives Orlando four outside shooting threats to go with Howard’s inside presence. Reserves Anthony Johnson and Mickael Pietrus also have three-point range. Heck, Stan Van Gundy hasn’t even bothered to use JJ Redick (10 minutes over four games) and shooting is what Redick does.
What can Cleveland do to counteract this? One possibility is the Cavs elect to fight fire with fire and go to a smaller lineup, with James as the power forward and three shooters to spread to floor. That would mean eliminating offensive anchors like Anderson Varejao and Ben Wallace in favor or more scoring. That would also mean that Cleveland is playing to Orlando’s strength.
Putting points on the board hasn’t been Cleveland’s problem, however. Stopping Orlando from putting points on the board has been Cleveland’s problem. Stopping teams is how the Cavs got this far and it’s had to envision Brown throwing the baby out with the bathwater at this point.
And, as Brown noted, the games have been close at the end, despite some wild swings. The first two were decided by one point. Game 4 went into overtime (thanks to a questionable call against Orlando) and was decided by two points. Even Game 3, a 10-point Magic victory, was close.
Something that sometimes gets lost in the discussion is that Orlando plays defense too. Pretty well, in fact. The Magic were among the top five teams in the league in both points allowed and defensive field goal percentage. Howard is the Defensive Player of the Year.
And ever since Orlando was pistol-whipped by the Celtics in Game 2 of their conference semifinal series – the Magic played like total wimps in that game – it has shown a toughness and a resiliency that now has it on the precipice of what would be a surprising, and network-cringing, victory.
Cleveland still has James, the human embodiment of “anything is possible.’’ He’s averaging a stunning 42.3 points a game in this series and his team is still down 3-1.
But, contrary to what you may see, hear or read, this series has not been All About LeBron. It’s been about the Magic’s ability to play at both ends a little bit better and about Cleveland’s inability to be the defensive team it was and has been all season.
Can we make this one a best-of-nine? Can the Celtics and Bulls keep playing until Kevin Garnett and LuolDeng are healthy again, then do a best-of-seven?
Glen Davis begs to differ.
“We want to end this series. We want to be done with this series,’’ Boston’s self-proclaimed Ticket Stub said after the Celtics exhausting Game 5 victory on Tuesday night.
Sorry, Baby. We want more.
Entertaining doesn’t begin to describe what’s going on between Boston and Chicago in their first-round playoff series. A seemingly mundane matchup between a depleted defending champion and a team going nowhere most of the regular season has turned into a must-see series full of game-winning shots, game-tying shots, physical play, coaching gaffes and everything else you’d want to see in this ‘Where Amazing Happens’ time of year.
Where this one ranks among the all-timers is still anyone’s guess. But we know this much: It’s the greatest Celtics-Bulls playoff series ever (OK, given that the three previous ones were 4-0 Boston, 3-0 Boston and 3-0 Boston, that isn’t saying much) and it already has done what no playoff series in 63 years has ever produced – three overtime games. And there still could be two more to play! (Please, basketball Gods. Two more.)
The Celtics hold the upper hand, 3-2, courtesy of their come-from-behind, 106-104 OT thriller Tuesday night, which could well have gone to a second OT (and who knows what else) had Brad Miller, an 80 percent free-throw shooter, not missed at the line with two ticks left. Or had Miller not missed the rim with his second, an intentional brick, denying the Bulls a chance at a put-back.
The series resumes in Chicago on Thursday night and, well, how about a triple OT game to add spice to the occasion? It’s about the only thing the teams haven’t done in the first five games. You have to think the United Center is going to be at Defcon 5 for this one.
Most NBA observers figured this to be a competitive series, given the Celtics’ absence of the game-changing Garnett and the fact that the Bulls are sort of the anti-Celtics: young, frisky, free-wheeling and callow. But what we’ve witnessed so far has been extraordinary.
ESPN waited one day to re-air Game 4 as an ‘Instant Classic.’ Four of the five games have been decided by a total of 10 points. There have been more than 80 lead changes and more than 45 ties.
There was the Bulls’ surprising OT victory in Game 1, with Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose scoring 36 points in his playoff debut. Only one other player in NBA history had ever scored that many in a playoff debut: LewAlcindor, aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Game 2 brought us the vintage shootout between UConn alums Ray Allen and Ben Gordon, with the Celtics (barely) prevailing.
After a Game 3 stinkbomb by the Bulls, we had a double-OT gem in which both teams seemingly had the game in hand, only to watch as the opponent made big play after big play. Allen hit a big three (when the Bulls should have fouled) sending the game to overtime. Gordon hit a ridiculous three (when the Celtics should have fouled) sending the game to double overtime.
Coming off that one, the bar was pretty high for Game 5. But these teams just keep raising it. Another overtime. A controversial conclusion. And a vow by the loser to return to Boston one more time.
“We will be back,’’ said the Bulls’ Joakim Noah, who, like a lot of players in this series, is opening more than a few eyes. “We have another chance so it’s a learning experience for all of us. Learning experience is not an excuse because I still feel like we can win this series.”
And you know what? They can. This isn’t Atlanta from a year ago, where the Hawks were never once competitive in four blowout first-round losses in Boston and looked shell-shocked on the road. This isn’t even Cleveland from a year ago, where LeBron was MIA in the first two games.
The Bulls have won once in Boston already and they’ve been in position to win all three in Boston. They’re not playing like a group going through their first playoff series under a rookie head coach.
Speaking of the rookie head coach, did Vinny Del Negro once think it might be a good idea to double PaulPierce in OT in Game 5? Ray Allen had fouled out. KG was wearing suit that cost more than a Camry. Del Negro already has taken heat for his use of timeouts in Games and 1 and 2, but why not run someone at Pierce when it’s clear to everyone in the building he’s going to shoot it? (They did it once in the final minute of regulation and Pierce dished it off to Stephon Marbury, who immediately turned to stone.) The Bulls never did when it mattered, however, and Pierce made them pay.
“We talked about coming with different players but they’ve picked us apart a little bit with that on the glass (offensive rebounds) and he hits some tough fadeaway shots with hands in his face,’’ Del Negro said of Pierce. “That’s what great players do, they make big plays. That’s something we’ll talk about again, but we’ve come with double teams, we’ve come with single teams, we’ve come off bigs, we’ve come off littles, and he’s seen it all.”
Pierce put on his 2008 Finals MVP face for the end of Game 5, a face we haven’t seen much in the series. The Celtics have gotten sensational play from Rajon Rondo, who is leading them in scoring, assists and steals in the party of all Coming Out Parties. (Until Kendrick Perkins inhaled 19 rebounds on Tuesday, the 6-foot Rondo, who had 8 in the game, also was leading the team in rebounds.)
He also was the one who clocked Miller at the end of the game, preventing a layup, while the Bulls cried for a flagrant foul call. He played 55 minutes in the double-overtime game and then came back and played 49 more in Game 5, though it seems he’s never not on the floor.
Allen has hit big shots throughout after stumbling through the first six quarters of the series. Pierce has been hesitant, tentative and, it seems at time, maybe a little cooked or even hurt, even as he has been putting up decent numbers. But the Take Charge Pierce had been missing. But there he was at the end in Game 5, hitting the last two Boston hoops in regulation and the last three in OT. As Davis put it, “I think since I’ve been here I’ve seen him do it a million times, so nothing surprises me.”
But surely more surprises await for Game 6. For instance, after moaning about the officiating, Perkins, a human wrecking ball if there ever was one, managed to play 48-plus minutes and never got called for a foul. That’s like watching Hubie Brown on TV and never hearing the phase “off the dribble.” Doc Rivers already has been fined $25,000 for commenting on the officiating.
Both coaches have shrunk their rotations. Mikki Moore never got off the Boston bench in Game 5 and played sparingly in Game 4. And this is one a team desperately in need of big men. Perkins and Davis are going to play till they drop. Ditto for Rondo. Marbury might as well start researching jobs overseas they way he has played so far. For Chicago, Gordon has to stay on the floor, lest his sore hamstring tighten up. Rose and Noah are logging long minutes as well, but they’re young.
The Bulls want to bring this one back to Boston for one final shootout. The Celtics want to end it and go on. But if these teams keep playing the way they’ve been playing, two more games won’t be enough. We know it has to end. We just don’t want it to.
Joakim Noah is finishing up his second season in the NBA – and he still finds one of the hardest parts of his professional life to be saying one simple word: No.
Kendrick Perkins is finishing up his sixth season in the NBA – and, by his own admission, he never said ‘no’ enough early in his career. Now, he does.
“A lot of guys have trouble saying ‘no’ until they figure out that it’s not an insult,’’ Perkins, the Celtics’ center said.
Hitting upon impressionable young players, many of whom have come into substantial amounts of money for the first times in their lives, is nothing new. Managing money – and teaching players to say ‘no’ - is an essential part of the NBA’s transition program for rookies, in which the league imports current players, veteran players and anyone else who can speak to them about what lies ahead.
The players are told they’re about to discover long-lost relatives and newfound friends. They are advised to be wary and careful. Mike Bantom, a former NBA player who runs the transition program, got a chuckle when he was told about Noah’s recent comments, which came in the form of an interview with the Washington Post.
“We tell them all this stuff, but we know it’s never going to register until they actually have to go through it,’’ Bantom said. “What he said to that reporter (sample “it’s hard to say no to somebody that you grew up with your whole life and you know they’re in a situation”) is what we said to him, verbatim. Your inability to say ‘no’ is going to take control of your life if you allow it to. So you better learn.
“But it’s kind of like with your own kids. It won’t register until it actually happens. Hopefully, by then, after what we’ve said, it makes it easier for them,’’ Bantom said.
Perkins heard all the same talk when he attended the transition program. Then he promptly went out and basically ignored all the well-intentioned advice.
“At the beginning, every one I knew had a hand out and I was spending like $200 and $300 a week. That adds up. It got to $11,000 a month. That adds up too,’’ Perkins said. “You have to learn to distance yourself from people, even if that means staying inside at home more. You know, out of sight, out of mind? That first year in the league was tough for me. You’re worried about offending people if you say no. But you eventually learn that you have to do it.”
In Perkins’ case, he was a quiet, Texan who had been raised by his grandparents, unaccustomed to luxuries that are now a part of his life. He entered the NBA right out of high school, even though his prospective college coach, John Calipari, told Perkins he’d be a lottery pick if he went to Memphis for even one year.
Perkins ended up getting drafted No. 27 overall in 2003.
Noah grew up in the spotlight; his father was a professional tennis player and winner of the French Open. Noah also is outgoing, engaging and the kind of individual who might attract the very people the NBA says like to prey on kids.
“I know Joakim. He’s a very personable guy,’’ Bantom said. “We’ve had a number of conversations. At the rookie transition program, we brought in Bill Russell to speak and Joakim asked if he could meet him, personally. So we arranged that. But his personality means he is going to come into contact with more “so-called friends” than a lot of other guys who aren’t as outgoing. You can’t stop living your life. You have to be who you are. But a lot of these guys are 19, 20 years old and we’re asking that they act like mature adults.”
It would be inaccurate to say these problems are limited to the young players, either. They aren’t. Dominique Wilkins for years in the NBA had to deal with an ever-demanding family. Longtime veteran Harvey Catchings got talked into a shaky and ultimately unsuccessful business deal even as his agent pleaded with him not to do it.
Former player agent Steve Kauffman recalled a recent example of a player, who he would not name, who had just retired and whose money was being sought to help finance a hotel deal. Kauffman had several experienced people look at the proposal and every one of them said it looked suspicious. All recommended the player not invest.
But the promoters pushing the product got the ears of the player.
“He spent $250,000,’’ Kauffman said. “And he never saw a dime of it.”
As long as the NBA continues to guarantee large sums of money to unproven players, many of them callow and naïve, there will always be vultures lurking. The league has taken more steps to help the kids, Bantom said, including have representatives in each NBA city.
“They are there to help. But they also are there to be observant because some of these kids might want to ask, but are afraid to do so because it would be embarrassing,’’ Bantom said.
The phrase “Just Say No’’ might sound simplistic; it didn’t work in the drug wars after all. But as the go-to phrase for NBA newcomers, it could and should resonate.
It may take them time, like it did for Perkins, but eventually the message got through to him. Noah should know he’s not alone out there, not only in terms of potentially shady company, but also in terms of others who’ve been there, done that, and can help.
“A lot of guys feel an obligation to have to say ‘yes’ to everyone, but you shouldn’t feel that obligation towards anyone but those who are close to you, important to you,” Perkins said. “Were they there for you when you didn’t have anything? It took me awhile to figure that out.”
Can anyone keep the Lakers from their seemingly pre-ordained return trip to the NBA Finals?
No one in the Western Conference is making the case in the regular season. The Lakers in the West look like the UConn women – a deadbolt lock. But we all know there is the regular season and there is the other season – no one knows that better than the Lakers, by the way – and a few teams out West are at least showing signs that the Lakers’ inevitable march to the Finals won’t be one in which they’re showered with rose petals along the way.
What makes the West so compelling are spots 2-9 because only eight qualify and some decent team is going to get iced. We’ll can concede No. 1 to Los Angeles’ varsity entry; eight games up in the loss column with 21 games left settles that. And that is a major advantage in the playoffs.
Every series starts on your floor (and Phil Jackson has never lost a playoff series after his team wins Game 1) and every series has Game 7, if need be, on your floor. So any team out West hoping to dethrone the current conference champs has that to deal with out of the chute.
We have no idea who will emerge as the other two division champions. Denver looked to be in control of the Northwest, until Utah caught fire. Portland is still hanging around.
The Spurs, Rockets and Hornets all are in contention for the Southwest crown and the Mavericks may be as well if Mark Cuban can find ways to rip them a couple times a week. (It worked against the Spurs at home; then Dallas fell apart the next night in New Orleans.)
But, realistically, which teams can actually make the Lakers break a sweat? As of now, there are probably three, maybe four. I can’t include Denver; any team with Kenyon Martin, Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith makes me too nervous, Chauncey Billups notwithstanding. I can’t include Portland; too young, but look out next year and beyond. Dallas? Nope. Phoenix? Forget it.
That leaves Utah, San Antonio, Houston and, perhaps, the Hornets. All of these teams could do it, but the likelihood, of course, is that none of them will. (The TV folks sure hope that’s the case, especially with the ‘Pass The Remote’ Spurs.)
San Antonio
No team out West has the cachet of the Spurs and their heart, soul and conscience is still there. And no, we’re not talking about Drew Gooden. The Spurs are muddling along (by their own standards, anyway) and waiting for Manu Ginobili to get healthy. If he does, they can beat anyone.
They are not intimidated by the Lakers or by having to win on the road. They’ve added a couple nice pieces this season (Roger Mason has been a pleasant surprise) and they still have the mental toughness that no one outside of LA possesses. And, don’t forget, this is an odd-numbered year and the only odd-numbered year in the last decade that the Spurs didn’t win was 2001.
San Antonio has been on a roll since New Years (20-9) and has shown some signs of late that its trademark, lockdown defense, is coming back. There’s no one that really figured out how to contain Tony Parker and the Fabulous Frenchman is having a terrific season. The Spurs have realigned a bit; Bruce Bowen now comes off the bench and coach Gregg Popovich finally found a use for long-range gunner Matt Bonner.
Gooden’s arrival had some around the league scratching their heads, for he’s not exactly known for his defense (although he does rebound.) But the Celtics would have taken Gooden in a heartbeat had they not had health concerns (Doc Rivers coached Gooden in Orlando.) These guys came within a horrible call last year of knotting the Western Conference Finals at 2-2. Dismiss them at your own peril.
Utah
No team is hotter than the Jazz. And it wasn’t until the team played its 57th game of the season – on Feb. 23 - that coach Jerry Sloan could submit his anticipated starting lineup to the stat crew. When Carlos Boozer played early in the season, either Deron Williams or Mehmet Okur was out. Boozer then went on the shelf for 44 games, but has returned with a vengeance. He had 20 points and 17 rebounds in a recent win over the Rockets.
Sloan has the versatile if occasionally goofy Andrei Kirilenko coming off the bench along with rebounding machine Paul Millsap and sharpshooter Kyle Korver. The Jazz went 20-9 after the All-Star break last season to take the fifth seed in the West. They went into Friday night’s game against Denver – at home – having won nine in a row, eight of them coming after the All-Star break.
They are getting healthy at the right time and if they can stay that way, they have the pieces to not only take the division, but to make things interesting in the playoffs. There’s also the added incentive of winning it for Larry Miller, the longtime Jazz owner who died on Feb. 20. He had his moments, but he had a passion for the Jazz and kept that franchise alive.
Houston
The wild card if, for no other reason, the Knucklehead Factor (read: Ron Artest.) The Rockets definitely don’t seem to mind at all that Tracy McGrady has packed it in for the season and they got rid of another potential disruption in trading away Rafer Alston, who can be a royal pain in the you-know-where (don’t take my word for it, just ask Sam Mitchell.) That’s 40 percent of the regular starting lineup gone and, until losing to red-hot Utah last Wednesday, the Rockets had won eight of nine.
One league exec called Houston “the fly in the ointment” for what looms as their untapped (and unknown) potential. They have Yao Ming and no one else does. Artest can defend, but he’s, well, Artest. Coach Rick Adelman has several outside shooters at his disposal, including Aaron Brooks, who has taken over for Alston.
The short-term goal for Houston is simply to get out of the first round. Yao has never done that. But if they do and get some momentum going, they present some headaches for anyone. If only they could play the playoffs in February; Houston has now gone two straight years without losing a home game in the month.
New Orleans
A couple weeks ago, it looked like the bottom might fall out on the Hornets and they’d be the odd team out in the West. But with Tyson Chandler returning (at least for now) and Chris Paul continuing to dazzle (27 points and 15 assists on Thursday night), New Orleans has won six straight and is back in the picture again.
They still need to get Peja Stojakovic rolling so he can be the much-needed third scorer behind Paul and the most unappreciated good player in the league, David West. But even with a full deck, does New Orleans have enough to overtake the Lakers in a seven-game series without the homecourt advantage?
They had LA beat recently in a game at the Staples Center before a dumb play cost them the victory in overtime. The addition of James Posey may not be statistically significant (or quantifiable), but he is a big guy when the money games are on the line. Just ask the good folks in Boston or Miami.
The Lakers still loom large, however, but, as David Stern likes to say, that’s why they play the games. But if Andrew Bynum comes back healthy, you might ask yourself, ‘why bother?’
To listen to the wise guys out there, and some of them are actually pretty wise, the Celtics will eventually be undone by their bench. They haven’t found an adequate replacement for James Posey, a playoff assassin and locker room treasure. They haven’t found an adequate replacement for PJ Brown, another locker room guy and clutch playoff contributor. The Lakers and Cavaliers are deeper.
Maybe those assertions will prove to be correct, although DannyAinge, the team’s basketball operations czar, is mindful of all this and is said to be looking for help (maybe, perhaps, in the form of Stephon Marbury.) Meanwhile, Doc Rivers, the team’s head coach, says if he has to finish the season with what he has now, he is cool with that, in part because he has a new/old guy coming off the bench who is making a solid case for a regular spot in the rotation, at least when he can keep his chin out of the way of DirkNowitzki’s elbow.
We speak, of course, of the heretofore forgotten Brian Scalabrine.
Last year, Scalabrine was almost an afterthought for the Celtics’ juggernaut. He played in only 48 games and his minutes haul (512) was the fewest since his rookie year of 2001-02. Already this year, he has logged 444 minutes in 36 games.
“I felt just as important last year as I do this year,’’ Scalabrine said in an interview. “I was ready for the call last year when Kevin (Garnett) got hurt and I started all nine games. We won seven. Sure, on the whole, it feels better to contribute. But as long as we’re winning, that’s what matters the most.”
Unless, of course, you want to include his surprise visit to the media room after the Celtics had won the championship by crushing the Lakers, where he chided all the reporters who had picked Los Angeles to prevail.
“How, when you guys consider yourselves NBA experts, can you pick the Lakers to beat us? We’re on TV all the time, so it’s not like you don’t get to watch us play. I just didn’t see it. You guys were so convincing that — you were so convincing that I maybe thought in my heart that, wow, this is going to be a series. How could that be?”
He was right, of course. But Scalabrine wasn’t exactly involved in that or any other series. He didn’t appear in a single game and was inactive for all but three of the team’s 26 playoff games. He simply was not a factor.
“Sure, it was difficult not to play,’’ Scalabrine said as his teammates left for Detroit for a Friday game with the Pistons, leaving him behind while he recovers from a concussion. “But everyone has a role and I just didn’t fit in at that particular time. Very rarely do you get a chance to do something special or be a part of something special and this was it. Accepting your role is very important in all of that. Sometimes, it takes a while for people to recognize that and understand that. To recognize that it’s bigger than you. You need time to grow up.”
This time, it’s different for Scalabrine, but the same for the team, which has the NBA’s best defense and, not coincidentally, the NBA’s best record. Only time will tell if he can give the Celtics anything close to what they got from Posey and Brown when it really, really matters. But in the here and now, Scalabrine has answered the call to replace Garnett in the starting lineup when KG was suspended for one game and then to start five straight games at center (over Leon Powe, who seemingly had taken over the role, but has dropped back, in part because he tries too hard to initiate contact) when Kendrick Perkins was out with a shoulder injury.
The Celtics record in those six games: 6-0. Scalabrine as a starter: 27 minutes, 8.3 points and 3.0 rebounds a game. OK, Dwight Howard isn’t trembling, but considering what the Celtics got from Scalabrine last year, those numbers are almost Chamberlainian by comparison.
“Scal is going to help us this year,’’ Rivers said. “He’s such a versatile player, being able to play (all the frontcourt positions) and being able to guard quicker guys. He hustles. He makes a lot of little plays. What we’re trying to do is to get Scal to just keep the game simple. When you’re open, shoot it. If not, pass it. Don’t try to force it or make things happen. He’s starting to buy into that and I think you can see it in his play.”
Add to Scalabrine’s contributions the explosive, can’t-miss Eddie House, and the Celtics’ bench doesn’t look quite so vulnerable. Or, it shouldn’t. Glen Davis has already had is signature January coming-out (16 points in the big win Jan. 22 over Orlando) and Powe still can be a menacing presence (without the menacing gestures.) Tony Allen has his moments.
House, meanwhile, has already had three games where he has scored more than his season’s best last year (20.) Those games have all come in the last week, where he has connected on 22 of 31 three-pointers. The Celtics are pushing to have House included in the three-point shot contest during All-Star Weekend.
“I look at our bench as a filler bench,’’ Scalabrine said. “Any one of those guys can be put into the starting lineup and not miss a beat. We probably couldn’t sustain what the starters do, but they’re our best players. I feel comfortable with any of the guys starting.”
This is Scalabrine’s fourth season with the Celtics. He, too, is a free agent in the sizzling summer of 2010, although he doesn’t see too many teams using their cap space to bring him aboard.
“It’s not going to be a difficult negotiation,’’ he said. “I’ll just go to Danny and say, ‘I don’t want to go anywhere else. Please re-sign me.’ If he says yes, that’d be great. If he says no, that’s when I’ll probably have to start begging.”
Hoopshype.com readers may recall a recent column I wrote on Stephon Marbury, in which I basically called out the Knicks for the way they’ve handled this rather noxious situation this season. The story also contained the following: “Many teams wouldn’t take on Marbury at any cost, which is probably going to be evident when he does extricate himself from his current situation and becomes a free agent. His track record just isn’t all that overwhelming.”
Well, I still stand by the second sentence.
There apparently may be a soft landing spot for Marbury in Boston once (or should we say ‘if?’) he does work out a buyout with the Knicks. To date, Marbury has shown little to no inclination to accept a buyout. As long as he sticks with that rather Neanderthal strategy, he will (a) remain a Knick in roster-spot only and not play a minute this season and (b) forfeit whatever chance he might have this season of getting on with his basketball life.
And until that happens, there’s no place for Marbury to go. To the vast majority of ordinary and even extraordinary wage earners out there, it has been and remains incomprehensible that Mabury would not agree to give up a portion of his $20.8 million to secure his freedom. He’s made well north of $100 million playing in the NBA. And he’s drawing a line in the sand over $1-2 million, some of which he’d immediately recoup by signing with another team and the rest he could recoup with a new deal? Unfortunately for Marbury, this position is what’s driving the ‘reputation discussion’ these days. As in, ‘how can he be so stupid? What is he thinking? Is it just about the money?’
While I am not a big Marbury fan – and I believe I am in the majority on this – I have trouble seeing a downside to him coming to the Celtics. You have to think he would be willing to accept a backup role – if he isn’t, it’s ‘end of discussion’ – and would be on his best behavior. If he decides to go into Knucklehead Mode, well, that’s what waivers are for. The Celtics wouldn’t eat more than a veteran minimum guarantee, pro-rated.
Ever since James Posey signed with New Orleans last summer and PJ Brown retired, apparently for good this time, the Celtics have known they need to bulk up their bench. While Marbury does not address one need – size – he does address a number of others.
He can handle the ball. That was a concern last year as well, which led to the February signing of Sam Cassell. The Celtics re-signed Cassell, but he still has yet to play this season. The other point guard options – Eddie House, Gabe Pruitt – are either out-of-position players (House) or still raw around the edges for the playoffs (Pruitt.)
Marbury also can, as they say these days, score the ball. Having a reliable scorer in the second unit has been a problem for the Celtics all season. One night Tony Allen looks like he’ll be the guy. The next night he looks the guy who the Celtics refused to extend last summer and whose mere presence on the court last spring inspired dread and fear in Celtics fans.
Marbury also would be insurance if one of the guards got hurt. (The Celtics’ three guard-small forward starters have yet to miss a game this season.) Plus, if he did come in and play well, the Celtics could consider him down the road, as one of the issues on the horizon is that Ray Allen’s deal expires after the 2009-10 season. While Marbury and Allen were taken in the same draft (1996), and, in fact, traded for each other that day, Marbury is two years younger.
The behavior question is really moot. Think Randy Moss and the New England Patriots. The Celtics have a strong locker room and there is no way that Danny Ainge would foist Marbury on his coach or his team without running it by all of them. Ainge likes to think outside the box – remember his pursuit of Reggie Miller in 2007? – and Kevin Garnett, a former Marbury teammate, would have to agree to be in the ‘let bygones be bygones’ mood. I mean, Marbury broke up a promising Timberwolves team by demanding a trade – in March of 1999. Isn’t there a statute of limitations on that?
And while Marbury’s track record is suspect – the teams he leaves tend to get better – this is different. He would not be the focal point, but a role player. He would in all likelihood get his opportunities in the playoffs, as Brown and Cassell did, but he’s still going to be backing up Rajon Rondo. That’s a given. If Marbury wants to start and play big minutes, then Boston isn’t an option.
You have to believe this is going to be resolved. The Celtics and Cassell waited until late February last season, but part of the holdup was the usual oafish brinksmanship from the Clippers. This time, it’s the team (New York) that is initiating the dialogue and desirous of a divorce. But it’s also a team which has shown no inclination to simply waive Marbury. For New York, it would be preferable to let Marbury calcify and then bid adieu at season’s end (assuming, of course, that there is no trade.)
In the end, this one seems to be falling on Marbury. Clearly, he knows his Knicks days are over. He knows there is interest from the defending NBA champions, a team which can use him to try to repeat. What on earth is he waiting for? The Thunder?
Kendrick Perkins leads the NBA in technical fouls. He has nine, or as many in 24 games this year as he accrued all last season. Two teammates (Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce) have three apiece, putting three members of the defending champs among the top 10 involuntary contributors to David Stern’s coffers. Sam Cassell has two technicals and one ejection. The next minute he plays this season will be his first.
They’re not alone. Their coach, Doc Rivers, is tied with Charlotte’s Larry Brown among coaches who have been whistled for the most technical fouls: each has four. (The numbers are based on information from the NBA and are through Dec. 4).
But as much as the Celtics are piling up technicals at a somewhat alarming rate – particularly for the combustible Perkins – there’s also been at least two instances this season where the always voluble, demonstrative Garnett seemed to be taunting or egging on an opponent – in other words, on the verge of a technical - and came away unscathed.
The first was when he clapped at the Raptors’ Jose Calderon all the way up the court in a Nov. 10 game in Boston. Nothing happened, save for some spirited jawing, of which Garnett is the undisputed league champion. The other came Dec. 5 in a nationally televised game against Portland, in which he got down on all fours in front of Blazers’ rookie Jerryd Bayless as Bayless began to bring the ball up the floor with just under five minutes remaining in the game.
“I have never seen anything like that before in my life,’’ said the ESPN analyst for the game, former NBA player Mark Jackson.
Actually, Garnett has done it before. More than once. Rivers admitted that if Garnett had tried to do that to him when he was playing, “I would have run him over. Legally of course.”
But now that he coaches the defending Defensive Player of the Year, he sees it as well, veteran exuberance, which should be applauded, not criticized.
And certainly not penalized.
“He does it all the time,’’ Rivers said of Garnett going to the floor on all fours. “And I bet he doesn’t even know it half the time because he gets so caught up in the game. But I look at that and say, ‘isn’t that great?’
“One referee said to me, ‘you better watch Kevin.’ And I said, ‘no, you guys should watch Kevin - and tell the rest of the league to do it.’ Wouldn’t every coach want their guy to get down low on defense, pound his hands on the floor, and be so into the game? When Duke does it, everyone starts clapping. When Kevin does it, people want to give him a tech. He’s so wrapped up in the game. I don’t have a problem with it.”’
The officials didn’t either, at least not in those two instances. Rivers said he thinks it’s because the officials can hear what the fans can’t hear.
“The reason I think a lot of the officials don’t T up Kevin is that it’s not a personal thing with him,’’ Rivers said of Garnett. “Heck, half the time, he’s talking to himself. They hear what Kevin is saying and they know it doesn’t lead to anything. With others, it’s more direct and personal. He has done that his whole career.”
And Garnett is indiscriminate. He barked at teammate Glen Davis in that same Portland game, so much so that Davis retreated to the end of the bench and put a towel over his face. Garnett had not been happy that the Celtics reserves had let Portland back into the game, necessitating the return of the starters (and the down-on-all-fours move against Bayless).
Nonetheless, Garnett’s in-your-face style – and the Celtics’ new hubris – have made them unappealing to many others around the league. That’s being charitable. The Blazers’ Channing Frye told the Oregonian, “the Celtics – they irritate everybody.” But, he quickly added, the Celtics also can afford to be arrogant because they have what 29 other teams want.
And that fact, Rivers thinks, is why there is more attention on his players (and himself). He noted that Garnett hasn’t morphed into this personality since coming to Boston. It’s just that it’s more noticed because the Celtics are the defending NBA champs and on every team’s hit list this season.
“Our games are on more of an edge than most games,’’ Rivers said. “We’re the champions. Teams are really going after us, not just physically, but verbally and emotionally as well.”
Perkins, so far, has been most penalized of the defending champs. In the NBA most recently compiled NBA statistics, Perkins had three more technicals than anyone else in the league. And Rivers, who had only seven technicals last season, is more than halfway to that number with more than two-thirds of the season left to be played.
The coach defended Perkins, his big, physical, center.
“In Perk’s case, I think up to five techs have been double techs,’’ Rivers said. “That’s where I have a problem. I wish the refs would do their jobs better. They know who instigated it. They know who was talking. Give him the tech. The easy way out is to placate both coaches by handing out double techs. I’ve always thought that’s the lazy way of doing it. And I’ll bet that seven out of 10 times, they know who perpetrated it.”
Rivers is concerned that Perkins might get too close to the Rasheed Line, where a technical foul would result in an automatic one-game suspension. But he’s a bit away from that number yet (16) although there are still a lot of games to be played.
“Perk has to be careful because I’m sure he’s a targeted guy,’’ Rivers said.
The Celtics expected everyone’s ‘A’ Game when the season started. That goes with the territory of being the defending champion. In their first 24 games, they won 22 of them. So, in their view, whatever Perkins and Garnett are doing, it doesn’t seem to have had much impact in the standings.
And at the end of the day, that is what matters to them.
I never was much of a math expert, but I know the difference between 4-0 and 7-8. One conveys dominance. The other conveys mediocrity.
Added together, they pretty much convey the current state of the Detroit Pistons, no longer dominant, or close to it, and bordering on that untenable state of being average in a league where it helps to be really good or really bad.
It’s sort of like applying to college. If you’ve got the money (really good), you can afford it. If you don’t (really bad), there’s scholarship money. But if you’re stick in the middle (going nowhere), you are toast.
This is not to imply that the newly reconfigured Pistons, with Allen Iverson and without Chauncey Billups, are toast. They’re more like zwieback. While we will continue to cut them some slack because of their big deal, they nonetheless appear to be a team that has recognized it has run its course and needs to retool.
I’ve always put Joe Dumars on the Mt. Rushmore of current GMs, where he trades top spots with San Antonio’s RC Buford. Detroit has made six straight trips to the conference finals. It has had seven straight 50-win seasons. That’s an accomplishment in and of itself. And, chances are, the Pistons would have rattled off another 50-plus wins this season had Dumars not pulled the trigger on the Iverson-Billups trade last month.
But my guess is that if you convinced Dumars to swallow some truth serum, he’d admit that he didn’t think the group that left training camp had enough to overtake the Celtics (or, maybe, even the Cavaliers) to get to the NBA Finals. Let’s face it, that group, one way or another, already had coughed up golden opportunities in 2006 (losing to Miami with the homecourt advantage), in 2007 (losing to Cleveland with the homecourt advantage and after taking a 2-0 lead) and in 2008 (losing to Boston after beating the Celtics on the road in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.)
Doing that again, or even failing to even get that far, was a distinct possibility this season for the Pistons, who have twice been flogged by the Celtics already (although, to their credit, they’ve also beaten the Lakers in Los Angeles, the Spurs in San Antonio, and the Cavs). They’ve already lost four home games – including one unmentionable, a 26-point humiliation to the hapless Timberwolves. They didn’t lose their fourth home game last year until Jan. 18 - and they lost only seven all season at the Palace.
Who knows how Dumars reached that decision, but I think it’s the right one. I don’t think the Pistons, even with Rodney Stuckey improving and Antonio McDyess back in the fold, had enough to beat the Celtics. I’m not sure they have enough to beat the Cavs, either. And given the height of the bar in Detroit, that prompted Dumars to do what he did.
He didn’t Knicks/Nets/Everyone Else it and pack it in with a big circle on 2010. He acquired a future Hall of Famer and financial flexibility down the road. In the meantime, he still has a competitive roster with possibilities, so that’s what makes the Pistons impossible to dismiss or ignore.
On the other hand… Iverson hasn’t been on a team which won a playoff series since 2003 and remains a difficult guy to accommodate. There simply is no one else like him, which can be good and bad… Rasheed Wallace appears to be putting a 42-cent stamp on more games than ever; this from a guy who submitted the ultimate no-show in critical Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008 (4 points, 5 fouls, 2-of-12 shooting). History may show that Larry Brown was the only coach who could penetrate the Inner Sheed. With Wallace’s contract up at the end of the season, you’d think he’d put the stamps in the drawer and just play.
But that makes sense. And, let’s face it, Michael Curry is a rookie head coach, with no previous head coaching experience, taking on a savvy group of veterans who know the drill. When’s the last time that worked? (OK, it almost worked for Dallas, but Avery Johnson wasn’t a real rookie).
The Pistons fell to 7-8 with Iverson following an embarrassing Sunday afternoon loss to the Knicks in New York, a game in which they fell behind by an astonishing 29 points. NBA rules dictated that Detroit be in the Big Apple the night before the game. Other than Atlanta, and possibly Golden State, there is no more worrisome city in which to arrive the night before a game than New York. Even more worrisome was the fact that the teams played a matinee.
But that was one loss. Let’s face it, the Pistons are a team in transition. You can’t write them off. But they’re also a team with options, which is what the Iverson-Billups deal was all about. Better to trade a player while he still has value, even if it might mean taking a step back before you go forward again. Just ask the Celtics or the Bulls how it works when everyone of import says good-bye at about the same time.
The Pistons no longer loom as the toughest test for the Celtics. That role, right now, belongs exclusively to the Cavaliers. By May, it could all be different, which is what Dumars might be hoping. But, either way, he’ll be in a position of strength when the season is over with both Iverson and Wallace potentially off the books.
And with what he has remaining on his roster, well, let’s just say it’s probably going to be a lot more than most anyone else will have in 2009 to offer marquee free agents. Or, perhaps, in 2010. As someone once noted, “you need to break a few eggs to make an omelet.” In other words, Dumars might end up losing the battle, a battle he really had no shot of winning anyway, but, in the end, he also just might end up winning the war.
It would be hard to find a more unsympathetic fellow these days than Stephon Marbury. OK, maybe Plaxico Burress.
But in the NBA, the Knicks’ once and no longer future point guard has become the symbol of selfishness as he awaits the dissolution of his relationship with the team. That could come as early as Monday, when Marbury, Knicks basketball boss Donnie Walsh, and a lawyer from the players association are scheduled to meet to see how much of Marbury’s $21.9 million the player is willing to sacrifice to get his release.
No one really looks good in all this. Once the Knicks announced that Mike D’Antoni was going to be the new head coach, Marbury, in essence, became a Dead Steph Walking. He did play in the exhibition season – he had 14 points in 29 minutes against the Celtics in Boston - but once the bell rung on the 2008-09 season, Marbury turned into Mr. Inactive. The next minute he plays will be the first this season.
By all accounts, he is healthy to play. By all accounts, the Knicks have decided they don’t care; they want him gone. So, apparently, do Marbury’s teammates, none of whom has come out and said that the self-proclaimed best point guard in the NBA is getting the proverbial shaft.
But when push came to shove last week, after two trades decimated the New York roster, D’Antoni said he asked Marbury to play against the Pistons simply as a manpower issue. According to the Knicks, Marbury declined, which led the Knicks to fine Marbury $400,000, a fine that is being appealed. (Marbury has a somewhat different interpretation, but he remained on the bench nonetheless.)
With the benefit of hindsight, always helpful, the Knicks allowed this thing to become a daily distraction when they easily could have resorted to a number of maneuvers while still having the same outcome: no Marbury. But by having him sit on the bench during games, travel with the team, and then be in a position to diss the coach, the Knicks more of less invited this to happen. How could it have been avoided? Here are two ways.
1. The Jamaal Tinsley Approach: The Indiana Pacers, Walsh’s previous employer, haven’t done a whole lot right these past few years, but they have drawn a line in the sand with their own point guard, who, like Marbury, is persona non grata. Tinsley has yet to play this season as well and, like Marbury, is healthy. But that’s where the similiarities end. The Pacers announced in September that they were not buying Tinsley out, that they were going to try and trade him (two months later, nada on that front) and that he is free to work out by himself, apart from the team. He has not been with the team all year. (Barack Obama spent more time in Indianapolis in October than Tinsley did.) But ‘out of sight, out of mind’ has its advantages, one of them being that the player can’t refuse to enter a game at which he isn’t even present or in uniform. Had the Knicks chosen this route with Marbury, they at least would have been spared the daily Steph queries from the New York press and would have avoided the Detroit incident. Who knows, they might even have found a taker for him by now.
2. The Frank Brickowski Approach: Here’s a blast from the past, but an instructive one nonetheless. If you don’t want a guy around, tell him to leave. Period. This is what happened with Brickowski during the 1996-97 season when he ended a long and occasionally productive career – 731 games over 12 seasons with six teams – as a member of the Boston Celtics. At that point in time, ML Carr was running the Celtics and he was determined to steer them to the league’s worst record and the best statistical shot at Tim Duncan in the lottery. He pretty much succeeded; the Ping Pong balls just didn’t deliver. One of the many personnel moves Carr made that season was to send Brickowski packing after only 17 games and 255 minutes of action. The official bulletin from the team said that Brickowski was sidelined with a sore right shoulder necessitating an operation, but no one really believed it. The command from on high to Brickowski was take the year off and chill. So that’s what Brickowski did, often times spotted on Cape Cod, not to be confused with the local physical therapy office. He was a free agent signee and was promptly renounced the following July. But the goal was to get him away - and it was a rousing success.
The lessons from the above two scenarios cut right to the core of the Knicks’ situation with Marbury: if you don’t want the guy around, don’t have the guy around. Let him go to Vegas if he so desires; he won’t care as long as the checks are still good. He will still be a name, if not a face, on the roster. And the team can do what it wanted to do anyway, namely, start developing the other players without a guy (a) you don’t want around and (b) is going to be gone for good next year anyway. And it’s not exactly like the Knicks are, you know, trying to win games now. They’re fixated on 2010.
There’s no real trade value for Marbury, not now anyway. Had the Knicks played him and let others see what’s left, maybe they might have been able to do something. Marbury does possess one of the truly valued commodities in the league: the ever-in-demand expiring contract. But with a divorce on the horizon, no one is going to take on Marbury’s contract now. Many teams wouldn’t take on Marbury at any cost, which is probably going to be evident when he does extricate himself from his current situation and becomes a free agent. His track record just isn’t all that overwhelming.
In choosing to defy his coach and team, Marbury put his own stamp on this regrettable saga, one that, unfortunately for him, confirmed what many have long suspected about him. But the Knicks never should have let it get to that point. They knew long ago that Marbury wasn’t going to be a part of their plans. Why they allowed him to stick around and still be seen and heard - instead of in exile – remains a head-scratcher to this day.
Watching Blake Griffin ascend the stage Thursday night at the NBA Draft, don a Los Angeles Clippers hat, shake David Stern’s hand and offer a wondrous smile to the folks in attendance and watching at home, seasoned NBA observers had to think: does this boy have any idea what he’s in for?
You have to wonder what Cleveland coach Mike Brown is really thinking when he goes over the game films of the Cavaliers series against Orlando. My guess is that the NBA Coach of the Year is uttering something along the lines of: “Where did my team go?” (There might be a few other words sprinkled in as well.)
Can we make this one a best-of-nine? Can the Celtics and Bulls keep playing until Kevin Garnett and Luol Deng are healthy again, then do a best-of-seven?
Joakim Noah is finishing up his second season in the NBA – and he still finds one of the hardest parts of his professional life to be saying one simple word: No.
Can anyone keep the Lakers from their seemingly pre-ordained return trip to the NBA Finals?
I never was much of a math expert, but I know the difference between 4-0 and 7-8. One conveys dominance. The other conveys mediocrity.