Skip to content

Posts from the ‘NBA 2009’ Category

Jun 3

NBA Finals Preview

While it was seemingly predetermined that the Lakers would return to the NBA Finals for a second consecutive year and record 30th time overall, the Eastern Conference playoffs ended up leaving in its wake a long trail of what ifs.

What if the baby Bulls had had the chops to knock off the Celtics in the Most Epic First Round Series Ever?  Would the Finals be returning to Chicago for the first time since MJ?

What if the Magic hadn’t received a team-altering gut check when the Celtics stormed back in the fourth to take Game 5 in Boston?  Would they still have been able to come together and vanquish the champs in Game 7?

What if Lebron had a Ray Allen?  Or a Rashard Lewis or Pau Gasol?

And the granddaddy of them all: What if Kevin Garnett had been healthy?  If so, would any of the above groups of questions have even been worth asking?

(No, no, and yes.)

As tantalizing and vexing as it is to ponder what might have been, the facts remained that Kevin Garnett wasn’t walking through that door and Mo Williams wasn’t going to be the crucial second banana on a championship team.

Enter Magic, stage right.

Let’s not sell Orlando short.  The Celtics and the Lebrons didn’t give it up to Superman and his sidekicks; they had it taken from them.  While it’s realistically impossible to beat a pair of champs in the same playoffs, the Magic did essentially that.

They grew up before our eyes after enduring one of the most painful 1-2 punches in playoff history to go down 3-2 to the Celtics.  Just when everyone thought it was over, the Magic — trailing in the fourth quarter of Game 6 in their own building — came alive to send the series back to Boston, where they promptly became the first team in history to come back from down 3-2 to beat a Celtics outfit.

Cleveland may not have been the defending champs, but they had fallen only once in 44 games that mattered in their house.  Orlando wasn’t given a choice: Either tear down the walls of a building that contained one of the most decisive home courts advantages off all time, or go home.

Make no mistake about it: The visiting team that will be showing up at Staples Center Thursday is not the same squad it was at this time last month.  The Magic are as battled-tested and proven as any team making its first Finals appearance in 14 years could be.  They won a Game 7 on the toughest home court to win a Game 7 on, then steamrolled a team nobody and their mothers gave them a chance of beating.

At the heart of the matter — and indeed what becomes the determining factor in the majority of playoff series — was favorable matchups.  Orlando had them against both the Celtics and Cavaliers.

Versus the Celtics, Paul Pierce had to give up four inches to guard Hedo Turkoglu, and the duo of Big Baby Davis and Brian Scalabrine was borderline comical given their task was to contain Rashard Lewis.  Kendrick Perkins put on a clinic of how to defend Dwight Howard (muscle him up chest to chest and force him into running line drive hooks) for five games until Superman got angry at his coach, and that was that.

Against Cleveland, let’s just say as dominant as Lebron was, there was a mismatch of comparably epic proportions on the other side.  Howard did the basketball equivalent of eating Zydrunas Ilgauskas for breakfast or stealing Anderson Varejao’s lunch money.  And he’s simply a bigger, younger and meaner version of Ben Wallace.  Ouch.

How next to nobody saw this coming is a topic for another day.  But staying on the topic of matchups, it’s hard for anyone to be so naive to think the Magic will have the same ease operating in their style of play against Los Angeles.

If you could tailor a pair of defenders to man up Turkoglu and Lewis, some version of Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol would emerge.  Gasol has the wingspan to interrupt Turkoglu out on the perimeter and the quickness to stay with him on penetration.  The scouting report on Odom indicates he’s ideally suited for defending Lewis, in that he’s long and agile, and more than comfortable operating outside of the paint.

It’s more or less a certainty that Howard will give Andrew Bynum some serious on-the-job schooling, but Phil Jackson will not allow him to be so fluid in his dominance.  Which is to say you’ll see a lot of the Josh Powells and D.J. Mbengas playing small spurts merely to make life as taxing as can be on Superman.

In addition to matchups, there are two other factors that, depending on the series, can swing an outcome.  The first is coaching, an aspect of this Finals that needs little synthesis, considering one guy has nine rings and the other is in uncharted territory.

The second is hunger.  As talented as the Lakers were last year, they ran into the hungriest squad this side of the 2004 Red Sox.  Playing Garnett, Pierce and the famished Celtics was like running into the proverbial buzzsaw.  The Lakers didn’t stand a chance.

Well, as the saying goes, times change.  Last year, we didn’t see the hungry, desperate, ferociously competitive Kobe Bryant until the gold medal game in the Olympics.  Then we saw him.  His teammate now and competitor at the time, Gasol, saw him.  Lebron and Carmelo Anthony took note.

This is Kobe’s time, and everyone knows it.  A win in the 2009 NBA Finals cements Kobe as one of the handful of greatest players of all time and puts him on the list of most prolific champions.  He’ll also tie that fella named Shaq with four rings, one on the solo.

A magical run it has been for Orlando, but it will end at the last possible moment in the least desirable place, at the hands of the Black Mamba.

Lakers in seven.

May 25

Are the Lebrons Overmatched?

For a fleeting moment, it seemed like Lebron James’ buzzer-beater in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals was going to alter (or restore, depending on how you view it) the future of basketball.

Cleveland would not be heading to Orlando, inexplicable losers of two straight in a building they had gone 43-2 — and essentially 43-1 — in up until this series, their dreams all but doomed.  The mammoth “WE ARE ALL WITNESSES” billboard in downtown Cleveland was not going to be suddenly interpreted as a cruel confirmation of another heart-wrenching letdown in the City that Rocks.  A 23-point lead, along with the Cavs season, would not evaporate into the  air over Lake Erie.

Those things were not meant to be, because in case anyone forgot, the Chosen One was wearing one of the white jerseys with red trim.  And He would not allow destiny to be derailed.

It took one ridiculous, high-arcing jay for Lebron to steal back a stolen game.  With it, the delicate notion of momentum returned to the Cavaliers side.

Yet less than 48 hours later, the Magic came out in Game 3 and wiped away every bit of that momentum Cleveland had amassed.

And you had to think: Maybe Lebron, who’s averaging nearly 42 points in the series, just isn’t enough.

Is there really any denying that three of the best four players in this tilt are Orlando’s to claim?

Dwight Howard poses huge matchup problems for Cleveland’s either underprepared (Anderson Varejao), overly soft (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) or undersized (Ben Wallace) front line.

Rashard Lewis is a nightmare cover for big men (who he can make follow him outside) or small forwards (who he can post up).

Hedo Turkoglu is 6-10 and does a little of everything, from running point to rebounding to dropping daggers.

On the Cavs, only Mo Williams even belongs in the discussion with Orlando’s top three.  And he’s shooting just 32 percent so far in the series.

Add it all up, and it’s fairly easy to understand how close Cleveland is to facing an insurmountable 0-3 deficit.

However, if there is a silver lining to all this, it’s that 1) the league clearly prefers a Lebron-Kobe Finals, and the refs have reflected this preference, and 2) Stan Van Gundy has professed out loud that he has no clue what to do about James, which should be a grave concern for Magic faithful going forward.

More on that point: On three occasions these playoffs Orlando has given up buzzer-beaters — to Andre Iguodala vs. Philadelphia; to Glen Davis vs. the Celtics; and to Lebron.  After the two most recent walk-off shots Van Gundy shouldered the blame.

The funny thing is that against Boston, Coach Stan drew up the perfect play — doubling Paul Pierce and impeding his passing lane to Ray Allen — but Pierce had the confidence in Davis to defer to him, and Big Baby had the confidence to knock down the shot.  That was championship swagger pure and simple, something that can’t be defensed.

Moving forward to the Lebron shot, for some reason Van Gundy opted not to double team James, and got burned for it.  He’s taken the blame for both mishaps, but only really deserved it for the most recent one.  Either that Celtics play continues to haunt him or he’s begun to second-guess himself, or a combination of both.

No matter what, there’s little doubt that Van Gundy’s coaching gaffe is the most tangible explanation for Orlando not being up 3-0 in the series, and he knows it.  You can bet his team is aware of it as well, and will look to take decisive control of the conference finals with a win in Game 4.

For Cleveland to get back on track and avoid slipping into an imposing 3-1 hole, someone not named Lebron is going to have to step up.  We’ve all seen how performances of 49, 35 and 41 from James have netted barely one win for the Cavs.

His supporting cast must make some noise in Game 4, and if it does and Cleveland ties the series at two, all those witnesses will flock back to Quicken Loans Arena for Game 5, believers once again.

If not, Orlando will be poised to prove that Lebron’s magic at the end of Game 2 registered as nothing more than a cheap parlor trick.

May 15

1 Comment

In Game 7s, Mental Toughness Prevails

One more win and it all becomes house money.

One more victory in a seventh and decisive game, and this Celtics squad will have officially logged one of the gutsiest NBA title defenses you’ll ever see from a team unable to go back-to-back.

One more series-clinching triumph on the fabled parquet and the ’09 Celtics will stand proudly next to the ’87 outfit that so nearly and improbably repeated as champions.

While there’s a big difference between falling in the NBA Finals (as the ’87 Celtics did, to the Lakers in six) and the conference finals (as the ’09 Celtics likely will, to the Lebrons), it is undeniably remarkable how these champs have worn the crown.

To date they’ve won seven postseason games with an eight-man rotation.  The first guy off the bench has been Brian Scalabrine, Boston’s own Jackie Moon.  The energizer is Eddie House, who allegedly only gets extended minutes from his coach when he’s ready to play defense (bet he’s been hearing that one since middle school).  And then there’s the x-factor, Stephon Marbury, the guy Doc Rivers once said — to a cascade of jeers — would win his team a playoff game.

As fabulous as the starting five has been (we’ll get to Glen “Big Baby” Davis and the rest of the Fab-Five in a moment), there’s no doubt that the Green stand on the brink of another conference finals appearance thanks in part to the contributions of this unlikely triumvirate coming off the pine.

On more than one occasion in the Orlando series Scalabrine has drained huge shots to give the Celtics life.  House’s  Game 2 outburst was so decisive and executed with such precision even Jason Bourne would have been impressed.

As for Marbury, well let’s just say Doc’s comments proved prescient.  With the season on life support in a building that was already collectively dead, Steph saved the day with his 12-point onslaught in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter of Game 5.  When the Celtics and the New Garden were unconscious, Starbury was their epinephrine.

Take a minute to digest all that.

Okay, good.

Now there’s no doubt that trio has helped propel the Celtics to where they are today, but as we know,  Game 7s are when the stars must come out and seize the moment.

Orlando can say all it wants, but the fact is the Magic are not adequately prepared for what they’re going to find waiting for them at TD Banknorth Garden come Sunday night.

Dwight Howard was fantastic in Game 6, backed up his talk, but Kendrick Perkins has played him to as close of a stalemate as is possible against an All-NBA first teamer and Defensive Player of the Year.  Perk is too strong to be bullied by Superman and possesses a better repertoire of low post moves.

After an electric first-round performance from Boston’s backcourt of Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen, Rondo has been inconsistent and Allen has been nonexistent (save for one go-ahead trey in Game 5) vs. Orlando.  The marked edge in guard play the Celtics were supposed to have in this series has still not registered.

If I were Courtney Lee or J.J. Redick — two guys with a combined four years of experience — I would be disconcerted, to say the least, at the prospect of trying to hold down Jesus Shuttlesworth in the biggest game of my life.  And I would be downright frightened when taking into account that Allen has misfired on 31 of his 36 three-point attempts this series.

Trying to defend Ray in a long series is like playing Russian roulette: It’s not a matter of if, but when.

Ask any Celtic — considering they are most suited to answer such questions — what it takes to prevail in a Game 7, and they will tell you it’s as much a mental excursion as it is a physical test.

Big Baby has been in a groove since the beginning of the playoffs.  Shedding baby steps in favor of a quantum leap, Davis has upped his level of play exponentially in the postseason.  However it was in Game 4 that it all came together — the union of the mental and the physical — for Baby.

He came out struggling and picked up an early foul.  Early in the second quarter he turned the ball over then committed a dumb foul, which forced Rivers to pull him out.  In a sequence partly caught on the television broadcast, Davis proceeded to let out a slew of f-bombs before finding his way to the end of the bench, where he continued to mutter obscenities to himself, utterly incensed.

It’s well known how Kevin Garnett has become the mentor for Davis.  Between watching him perform throughout the playoffs and then seeing his tirade after that series of inexcusably poor plays, you started to sense that the man is channeling the exemplar.

Instead of a prolonged emotional breakdown from Baby, he instead directed his anger inward and gathered himself, then came back to hit a go-ahead jumper with 32 seconds remaining before sinking a buzzer-beating dagger for the win that tied the series at two.

Those are the kind of moments that transpire in a drawn out series, moments when one team unleashes a temporary blow that mushrooms into the psychological advantage necessary to snuff out an opponent’s season.  In the Chicago series that happened when the Celtics dismantled the Bulls on their home floor in Game 3.  The series may have turned epic, but the mental battle turned in favor of the Celtics after that game.

The same can be said of Game 4 of this series.  The Magic had it won, had the play they wanted in crunch time, executed it to perfection.  Stan Van Gundy correctly decided he was not going to let Paul Pierce beat him.  Pierce felt the double team coming and correctly decided to put the fate of HIS team in the hands of someone not named Ray.

Once Baby’s shot fell through the nylon, the mental edge swung back to the Celtics.

It took a second consecutive collapse from Orlando, some infighting and an admirable bounce-back performance in Game 6, but that all merely postponed the inevitable.  All that really mattered was the Celtics stole back home court in Game 4, along with a sizable chunk of Orlando’s mojo.

Game 5 was painful, for sure, but I guarantee you when crunch time comes on Sunday and the ante gets upped, that lost opportunity at Amway Arena is going to find its way into the subconscious of the Magic and the champs will pounce on them for the knockout blow.

When it’s all over and the Celtics are giving their postgame press conferences, you won’t have to listen too closely to pick up the gist of their explanation for how and why they improved to 4-0 in Game 7s in the last two years: mental toughness.

It’s then that they will pack up their belongings — along with that mental toughness — and head to Cleveland, where Lebron and a big pot of house money will be awaiting them.

May 1

Celtics-Bulls VI: Battle of the Century

I left my friend’s place after Game 6 of Celtics-Bulls last night, exhausted and in a malaise.  My memory of what had just transpired — usually crystal clear — was so clouded and fragmented, my thoughts so blurred, that I had trouble finding a subway station I’ve used countless times.

After making the 30-minute journey back home — during which I must have looked like a zombie to strangers around me — I watched highlights of the game.  Actually strike that, highlights of the battle.  Because let’s face it, this war of attrition was the closest mind-body struggle between two adversaries one will ever see outside of the ring.

There was Rondo and Hinrich’s undercard.  The blood gushing from Pierce’s nose.   Ray’s 51 (FIFTY-ONE) on the scorecard.  Miller’s revenge.  Salmons’ onslaught.  Baby’s fadeaway.  The ice in Ray’s veins.  Pierce’s almost-steal and knockout of the challenger.  Noah’s indescribable flurry to stagger the champs.  Rose’s KOS (knockout swat).

I watched all this for a second and third time, and tried to gather my thoughts.  Wasn’t happening.  Tried to sleep.  Nope.

I turned on the TV, and what happened to be on HBO?  A documentary of the “Thrilla in Manila” between Ali and Frazier.  It was an intense and jarring recounting of possibly the greatest fight ever.   It was also the only suitable way to give some perspective to a mind-blowing basketball game.

It’s often too easy to get swept up in The Moment, and everyone — from players to media to fans — is predisposed to this phenomenon from time to time.  It’s human nature: When we witness something extraordinary, precedents and past-happenings become puny in comparison.  Typically though, upon reflection, the grandeur of an amazing occurrence in sports gets reduced once The Moment has passed, nerves have settled, and rational thought has reentered the equation.

Let’s not mince words: Ali-Frazier III has stood the test of time as a seminal moment in sports that will never be matched.  Just seeing Frazier, Frazier’s son, Ali’s team, writers and historians chronicling this epic fight, you can sense that wherever they were on that day in 1975, they have remained since in spirit.

For 14 rounds in sweltering heat, two of the world’s finest fighters waged a war that nearly killed them both.  There is no more telling quote than from Frazier, who when asked if he would have risked his life to go out for the 15th and final round, said, “Yeah.”

When the documentary ended, it was just after two in the morning, and I was finally lucid.  I realized that Ali-Frazier comparisons get thrown around FAR too generously, and that there will never be a sporting event — in boxing or otherwise — than could garner such a comparison.

But as a metaphorical script?  That’s a different story.  That’s where Celtics-Bulls VI steps in.

Early in the fourth quarter Chicago went on a run, unleashing a series of blows that had the champs staggering (similar to Frazier’s middle-round assault on Ali).  The Celtics took the Bulls’ punches, and returned in kind, with a crowd-silencing 18-0 run that turned a 10-point deficit into an 8-point lead (akin to Ali’s blistering sustained attack in rounds 12 to 14).

Naturally there are inconsistencies, no more significant than the fact that the champs lost the game whereas the champ won/survived the fight.

But a series of plays in the last minute of the third overtime truly gave this basketball game the feel of a heavyweight bout — epitomizing the desperate chaos that ensues in the waning seconds of a final round.

With the game tied at 123, Pierce jumped a pass and knocked the ball into the backcourt, seemingly destined for some series-clinching thunder.  But he stumbled at midcourt and the ball careened out of bounds, giving it back to the Bulls.

Then, after a defensive stand, Pierce had the ball back in his hands at the top of the key.  He went to drive left, and feeling the double team coming, tried to whip a pass to Brian Scalabrine in the corner.

It was then that Joakim Noah let loose the proverbial final combination: First he intercepted the ball and tapped it towards center court.  Next he picked it up and dribbled the rest of the floor — trailed by an exhausted Pierce the entire way.  By the time Pierce caught up to the rumbling seven-footer, he had thrown down a tremendous flush and drawn the sixth and final foul on the C’s captain.  He nailed the free throw to boot, putting the finishing touches on the finishing barrage.

So here we are, six games, seven overtimes and one epic script into a bona fide first-round heavyweight basketball bout.

Game 7 is Saturday in Boston, a game that will double as the most significant affair ever contested at such an early juncture of the never-ending tournament that is the NBA playoffs.

Everyone who’s anyone will be there for the epic finale.  Maybe even Kevin Garnett.

And I’m thinking he may not be in a suit.

Apr 17

Celtics Ticket-less for Playoffs

Tom Brady might be sitting courtside at TD Banknorth Garden on Saturday — when the Celtics officially begin their title defense — but unlike last postseason, he will not be the most important guy in street clothes next to the Celtics bench.

Unfortunately, that honor will go to the Big Ticket.

What many feared last month after Kevin Garnett’s brief and unsuccessful return from a knee strain is now a bitter reality: The MVP of the Celtics, Mr. Anything’s Possible himself, is out indefinitely.

We have all witnessed how the fire burns inside this unparalleled athlete. We saw him spill his guts every night for 12 years in Minnesota. We were awed when he brought his act to Boston and did the same over a surreal 97-game stretch last season; a series of extended encores punctuated by a world championship. And we were grateful when a long-suffering basketball town was returned to its rightful perch atop the hoops world.

Now, with 14 years and well over a thousand games under his belt, it appears his heart and passion for the game have proven to be more enduring than the knees entrusted with carrying all that extra weight, literal and otherwise.

There are still no reports of structural damage in his injured right knee, just a career’s worth of wear and tear of the highest degree. (Seems like the term “wear and tear” grossly understates the matter, no?) He hasn’t been officially ruled out of the entire playoffs, but it’s probably wise to keep expectations at a minimum going forward.

It’s tough not to be down at this point. When KG was healthy, the defending champs — spurred by an historic 27-2 start — were the story of the league.

Yet not long after that run, the main plot of 2008-09 season shifted away from the Celtics and towards Lebron and Kobe, Cleveland and LA.  Garnett went down, the Cavs were unbeatable at home (falling only to LA), and the Lakers had wrapped up the West before MLK Day.

While Cavs-Lakers was accordingly billed as the surest Finals since, well Lakers-Celtics, and would’ve had a good chance of happening even if KG was healthy, it’s a damned shame the Green won’t get a real shot at defending their crown. Anyone who tells you Cavs-Celtics would have been a foregone conclusion with Garnett back is full of it.

Garnett’s loss is a striking blow to a team that wore the championship belt and bullseye all year, battled multiple injuries throughout, integrated new players, and still emerged with 62 victories. It was an admirable first chapter to the team’s first title defense since 1987. Now, with the end game pretty much determined, all that’s left to see is how it concludes.

I don’t think it’s optimistic to believe the Celtics will fulfill their end of the bargain and give Lebron the rematch he’s wanted — albeit under different circumstances.

This team has dealt with a ton of adversity.  In addition to Garnett being sidelined for 25 games, key reserves Leon Powe (12 games), Tony Allen (36 games) and Brian Scalabrine (43 games) all missed significant time.  That enabled Glen Davis to grow into his skin, and helped accelerate the transition for newcomers Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury.

Add to that Rajon Rondo’s emergence as an elite point guard and Kendrick Perkins’  continued development (both enter the playoffs as unquestionably better players than last year), and there is a solid and experienced supporting cast around the now Big Two, who are not to be forgotten.

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are among the proudest players in the game, and will make it their personal mission to carry this team as far as they can.  Even with rings — and Pierce with a Finals MVP — both can vividly recall the days when they were some combination of underestimated and underappreciated.

Allen has been channeling Jesus Shuttlesworth since last year’s Eastern Conference finals.  He will take it up a notch.

As for Pierce, let’s just say a lot of people didn’t take him seriously last year when he proclaimed he was the best player in the world.  He may have overstepped a bit, but after manning up and dismissing Lebron and Kobe on the biggest stage, his point held water.

For the two most important months of the 2007-08 season, Paul Pierce was the best player in the world.  He’s always relished having something to prove, the greats always do.  Now he does (again).

The Celtics likely won’t make it back to the promised land without their leader, but that doesn’t change the fact that the belt is theirs until somebody rips it off them.

Knowing this team and its coach, knowing Allen and the reigning Finals MVP, I wouldn’t bank on anyone not named Lebron or Kobe taking the honors.

Feb 26

Garnett and Marbury: Déjà Vu for the Celts?

I’m an optimist.   Prefer to glean the positives from what might otherwise be construed as a negative situation.

I can’t help it.  Optimism is entrenched in my sports psyche.  It’s the reason I grew up believing every year was THE year for the Red Sox, the reason I stayed sane in New York post-XLII.

So while many view Kevin Garnett’s (temporary) absence and Stephon Marbury’s (probable) arrival as possible death blows to Boston’s chances of a repeat, I see a pair of blessings in disguise — reinforced by a recurring sense of déjà vu.

The knee injury Garnett sustained in a Feb. 19 game at Utah sent shock waves through Celtics nation, and justifiably so.  The fact that he injured the knee on a non-contact maneuver — in this case, going up for an alley-oop — was a major cause for concern.  Ligament and tendon damage can often result from slightly mistimed lateral or vertical movements.  Fortunately he merely strained a muscle behind the knee, an injury he could have played through.  And he tried to.

Needless to say Danny Ainge did not allow that to happen and the team is taking no chances going forward, which means the Big Ticket will likely sit out another eight or so games in addition to the pair he’s already missed.  Does this scenario sound familiar?  It should, as the same thing happened around the same time last year.  On Jan. 25 Garnett strained an abdominal muscle and missed nine games between Jan. 27 and Feb. 19. The Celtics won seven of them.

He returned healthier and refreshed.  You know the rest.

It’s well documented how KG only has one speed: turbo.  To him cruise control is synonymous with being stuck in the breakdown lane.  When you consider that even with the respite he still played 97 games last year (second only to the 100 games he played in 2003-04), it might have been wise to shelf him for a period of time regardless.  That his freakish body has again sounded a faint warning bell might indeed be that blessing in disguise.  It surely was last year.

Unless he reaggravates the injury down the stretch (which would be quite a pessimistic way of looking at things), this mandated down time will end up paying great dividends when the Celtics embark on what’s sure to be another deep playoff run.

As for Marbury, call him what you want — bad teammate, enigma, self-centered, classless — and the New York media certainly has, but the man really has everything to gain from joining the Celtics.  The Celtics, in turn, have pretty much nothing to lose.  If he works out, super.  If not, they can cut ties while assuming minimal financial loss.

Remember Sam Cassell?

While Cassell’s career accomplishments overshadow Marbury’s, speaking purely from a style of play and team chemistry standpoint the two are mirror images of one another.  In their heyday both players were All-Star caliber, shoot-first point guards with a surplus of hubris.

Last March Cassell came into a close-knit and role-defined locker room, ball(s)-in-hand.  The fear was his ego and chucking mentality would be injurious.  After hitting some big shots in the regular season and again in the first round against Atlanta, the chucking became a problem against Cleveland and Cassell played sparingly for the remainder of the playoffs.  He did not, however, threaten the team chemistry.  In that regard he put his ego aside in the name of winning a ring.

Cassell — at age 38 — had nothing to prove except that he could become an auxiliary piece on a championship team.

Marbury, on the other hand, is playing for a lot more.  He wants to win his first playoff series en route to his first title.  At 32, he has a golden opportunity to lock up a final big contract.  A successful run with Boston and he’ll be in position for one last substantial payday.

Above all, maybe, he wants to stick it to New York.  To the front office he believes treated him unfairly.  To the teammates he thinks tossed him under the bus.  To the fans who turned on him.  And to the media, which has been unrelenting with its venom-injected headlines and protracted condemnations of the man they once deemed “Starbury”.

He has a beef to settle with New York, and what better place to do it than the one place that despises anything and everything “New Yaaawk”?

Irony would have it that the Celtics and Knicks have developed one of the coldest rivalries in the league, if you can call it that.  (A rivalry, that is.)  The teams nearly came to blows last season when Quentin Richardson and Paul Pierce were ejected from a game at Madison Square Garden.  Afterwards Richardson fanned the flames with some choice postgame remarks.  They have yet to make amends.

Richardson has had no qualms about voicing his opinion on the Marbury matter as well. This past November he ripped Marbury after the disgruntled star refused to play when the team was shorthanded and calling for his services.

In response to the incident, Knicks president Donnie Walsh formally banished Marbury from the team on Dec. 1.  Add it up and seems like the enemy of Stephon Marbury’s enemy is about to become his new friend.  That should immediately help the chemistry-building process with the Celtics.

Given all that, who really thinks the guy is going to ride into Boston on his high horse and reprise his role as a defiant, obstinate distraction?  Not I.

But take that with a grain of salt.

I am, after all, a self-professed optimist.

Feb 16

1 Comment

NBA Midseason Report

Excuse me for being a hater, but NBA All-Star weekend 2009 was pretty poor.

The skills competition was a snooze — other than Mo Williams guaranteeing victory then not making it out of the first round.  Of note was Reggie Miller breaking the record for number of times in one telecast a color commentator used the word “nonchalant” and its derivatives.  He was irked by the passivity displayed by Williams and the rest of the field during the competition and apparently only had one way to communicate it.  Between Miller’s ad nauseam droppage of the word and the overall bore of the event, most viewers probably wanted nothing more than to “nonchalantly” pull out their hair by the end.

Dwight Howard then appeared to sabotage his own cause in the dunk contest by allowing Nate Robinson to soar over him on his final dunk.  The flush involved Superman taking Nate’s crotch to the back of the head, which evidently won over voters and gave the crown to the short slammer.

The All-Star game itself was scripted worse than an episode of “The Hills”.  There was the token Shaq-Kobe reunion and excessive coverage of their jovial pregame exchanges, followed by Kobe chucking up 10 shots in the first quarter for an early MVP bid, concluding with Shaq running point, busting crossovers and throwing a few down at the end of a 146-119 West blowout of the East.  The duo took co-MVP honors.  (Wait, you mean LC and Spencer both happened to be at “Les Deux” that night?)

So back to the real world (no pun intended) we go, and an ’09 NBA season that has been pretty nifty.

Eastern Conference Overview: The East is more or less set.  Boston (44-11) and Cleveland (40-11) will jockey for home court throughout the conference playoffs.  Don’t be surprised if an April 12 matchup becomes a de facto elimination game for the number one seed in the conference.  Orlando is locked into the third seed and will serve as an added incentive for the Celtics and Cavs to nail down the top spot.  The Magic (38-13) will not be a friendly second-round opponent for either team.

The fourth through seventh seeds will play out, in some order, with the Hawks (31-21), Heat (28-24), Pistons (27-24) and 76ers (27-24).  Only the fourth and fifth seeds will be able to dodge the power trio in the first round, so look for Detroit and Miami to make strong pushes on Atlanta in the second half.  The final playoff spot is up for grabs, as five teams (Milwaukee, New Jersey, Chicago, New York and Charlotte) are all within three and a half games of one another.

Western Conference Overview: It’s a nine-team race in the West, and considering the struggles the Suns (28-23) have endured (they just fired head coach Terry Porter), it’s possible they’ll be on the outside looking in for the first time since the 2003-04 season.  Still, it’s never wise to bet against Steve Nash and “The Big Cactus”.  Don’t count them out just yet.

The Lakers (42-10) will cruise to the top spot and the road to the Finals will again go through Staples Center.  The Spurs (35-16) have a solid grasp on the second seed, particularly given the run they typically go on after the All-Star break.  The Nuggets (36-17) are in position to be on the top half of the playoff bracket if they can hold off Portland (32-20) and Utah (30-23).  As for how the rest of the west will shake out, only time will tell as the Jazz, Blazers, Rockets, Hornets and Mavericks are all separated by just two and a half games. Expect seven of the eight Western playoff teams to reach the 50-win plateau.

Biggest Surprise: Denver Nuggets The script was fitting:  Chauncey Billups returning to his hometown team, the same team he played briefly for early in his career.  The question was would he be able to adjust to a new set of teammates and a new style of play.  After all, he had spent six full seasons as the floor general of an unchanging core group in a Detroit system predicated on defense.  To make such a fluid transition to Denver’s up and down style of play is a testament to Billups’ hardened veteran mentality.

After letting go of Marcus Camby in the offseason and making the Allen Iverson-for-Billups swap in the first week of the ’08 campaign, the Nuggets seemed due for a step back.  Instead Billups has taken the reigns and forged a fast relationship with Carmelo Anthony on the court.  As a result Denver is tied with San Antonio for the second-best record in the West at the break.  The Nuggets’ defense has been bolstered as well.  For the first time in three years Denver is giving up fewer than 100 points per game.  The Nugs are for real.

Most Significant Addition: Mo Williams/Cavs Lebron James may be a leading candidate for MVP this year, but the acquisition of Mo Williams is the reason why the Cavs are on pace for 64 wins.  And it’s because of Williams that Cleveland is threatening to steal home court from the Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoffs.  For the last few years James has craved and practically begged for a knockdown shooter on the outside.  After nearly single-handedly taking down Boston in the playoffs last year, Lebron was finally rewarded with the first legitimate wingman of his career.

Williams is a proactive point guard with an ability to create, but naturally that isn’t what he’s most needed for on a team with James.  It’s his shooting outbursts that have helped propel the Cavs to a real title contender and serious threat to the Celtics in the East.  At the break he was averaging 17.6 points per game on 47 percent shooting, including 40 percent from beyond the three-point arc.  He erupted for 43 points — a career high — in a Jan. 27 game against Sacramento before besting that with 44 in the last game before the break versus the Suns.

Most Significant Loss: Andrew Bynum/Lakers For the second consecutive year the Lakers lost Bynum to a knee injury just as he appeared to be on the brink of something special.  In the last five full games before he went down Bynum was averaging 26.2 points and 13.8 rebounds per game. Now he’ll have to wait and see if an MCL tear will sideline him for the remainder of the season.

Like last year, the impact of his loss won’t threaten the Lakers in their quest for another top seed in the West.  Nor should it greatly hinder their drive to return to the Finals.  The West has depth, but other than San Antonio (whose number the Lakers have had in recent past) there is no team standing in the path of LA.  It is when they get back to the Finals and meet Cleveland or Boston — two of the best defensive and most physical teams in the league — that they will be ruing the day Bynum went down.  Again.

MVP: Dwyane Wade Look, either Lebron or Kobe is going to win MVP.  They are the two best players in the league on two of the three best teams.  I take issue with the nature of the award, which should be given to the player who is most indispensable to his team.  While their squads wouldn’t be sitting where they are today, both the Cavs and Lakers would still be playoff teams this year without Lebron and Kobe.

There’s no way the same can be said of Miami without Dwyane Wade.  The evidence is already there.  With Wade alternating between being injured and playing hurt last year the Heat won 15 games.  FIFTEEN.  With a healthy Wade this season Miami is 28-24 and occupying the fifth position in the East.  The team’s second-leading scorer is a rookie and the bench is a virtual non-entity (all due respect to Daequan Cook and Chris Quinn).  Wade is averaging 28.3 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals per game, meaning he’s accounted for roughly half of Miami’s offensive output.  He takes over close games late more often than anyone else in the game.  Why?  Because he must or Miami will lose.  There is no player more valuable to his team than Wade is to the Heat. The man deserves some votes.

Jan 26

4 Comments

Celtics Maintaining Pace

Here we are, just past the midway point of the 2008-09 NBA season and the Celtics are on an identical pace with last year’s 66-win championship team. For the second straight campaign, at the 46-game mark the Green have 37 wins to show for.

Time to put to rest all those burning questions about the New Three’s drive and desire to repeat, wouldn’t ya say?

Sure, they have experienced peaks and valleys that are atypical of a team defending a title. The peak was an 18-game winning streak. The valley — a stretch during which they dropped seven of nine, including four straight — had many asserting the Celtics were suddenly not just mortal, but beatable.

Take a more detailed look at the circumstances surrounding both the streak and the lull and it becomes glaringly apparent that this team has few concerns going forward (other than the race with Cleveland for home court, but that’s a story for another day…). Consider the following points.

1) The Celtics tied for the fifth-longest winning streak in NBA history by winning 18 games in a row. Of the six other teams that won at least 18 straight, not a single one did so in the year of a title defense. In fact, other than the Rockets (who won 22 consecutive games last year), every other team on that list enjoyed its historic winning streak during a championship season. It’s one thing to be that dominant over an extended stretch that ultimately ends with a ring; it’s a whole other thing to do it the year after winning a ring, considering every opposing team has your name circled in red on its schedule.

2) The bad run began on Christmas Day in Los Angeles, which marked the first time the Celtics and Lakers squared off since Boston routed LA in six games in last June’s NBA Finals. The game was unequivocally a must-win for the Lakers — particularly given that they were (interestingly?) awarded home court. Another loss to the Celtics in front of a national audience would have been catastrophic for LA.

3) Naturally, playing the Lakers on Christmas was important to the Celtics as well, and after letting the game slip away in the final 90 seconds it was clear they left Tinseltown lacking their usual heightened focus. That their next three games were all on the west coast didn’t help things. A holiday swing out west is always tough. A 1-3 trip after an 18-game unbeaten streak should be chalked up as rigors of the business, not general cause for alarm.

4) When all was said and done, the Celtics were forced to play nine games in 16 days through the heart of the holiday season, bookending the Lakers game with a January 9 showdown in Cleveland, which they lost handily. Of those nine games, all but two were on the road, culminating with three games in four days at the end. Exhaustion can even set in on a warrior like Kevin Garnett.

5) Look at how they’ve responded over the two weeks since the Cavs game: Eight wins in a row with an average margin of victory over 16 points; home-and-home sweeps of Toronto and New Jersey; road victories in Miami and Orlando; a pair of beatings in Boston of the Suns and Mavericks. The recurring theme throughout those contests has been a return of the defensive intensity that defined the team in its trek to a 17th title and beyond.

Between an arduous slate of games over the holidays and a general lack of any legitimate down time thus far — the Celtics have played four more games than Cleveland, and three more than the Lakers and Magic — the champs have not been afforded any breaks from the schedule makers, which makes their current body of work all the more remarkable.

Despite not having someone locked into the role of sixth man like James Posey was last year, Doc Rivers has again managed to stay true to his promise of keeping the stars fresh for the playoffs, as Garnett (32.5 minutes per game), Paul Pierce (36.5) and Ray Allen (36.3) are all right around their average minutes from last year.

Eddie House, Leon Powe and Glen Davis have become interchangeable parts off the bench (depending on matchups), and the rotation has worked well. Additional reinforcements could also be on the way. If the Knicks can negotiate a buyout with Stephon Marbury, there’s a good chance the former All-Star will end up in green. Marbury or not, it’s widely anticipated that Danny Ainge will bring in a veteran to provide more depth and experience for the playoffs.

Bottom line is halfway through the season the Celtics are still the team to beat and will remain so for the duration. They are a cool 35-2 in games on either side of the slump and are as healthy, hungry and happy as ever.

What more can you ask for?

Oct 30

2 Comments

NBA Preview 2009

What do we know after two days of the 2008-09 NBA season? We know the Celtics are going to defend the EFFING hell out of the crown as the Lebrons plot their coup. We know the Lakers are the biggest and deepest team in the league. And we know the Suns and Spurs are old. Really old. Like almost as old as Greg Oden. (Was that too soon?)

Oh yeah, and we know that the day David Stern doesn’t get universally booed on site is the day he’s perfected that nifty mind control device he’s been working on. Something tells me it’ll be ready to go by draft night in New York next summer. Stay tuned.

Alas, aside from those truths much is yet to be decided, and with reason. That’s why they play the games, duh.

So sparing you further malarkey, here is the official BG NBA Preview ’09. Since my team is the defending champs after years of being the defending lottery losers, this preview will concentrate strictly on actual title contenders.

(Bear in mind I called the Celtics to win 58 games and make the Finals last year when most “prominent” “writers” with “readerships” had them as a four or five seed in the East. I guess while you’re at it, strike from the record my pick of the Knicks as a playoff team …)

Here we go.

Eastern Conference

The Favorite: Boston Celtics

They were thrown together last year as part of Danny Ainge’s personal science experiment. The basketball world waited for Paul Pierce to demand more shots, for Kevin Garnett to shrink on the biggest stage of his life, for Ray Allen’s ankles to detach from his calves. It anticipated their demise after they dropped three games a piece to Zaza Pachulia’s Hawks and Bron’s Cavs, except that fourth loss never came. Now, for the 17th time in franchise history the Celts are the returning champs. If you watched Pierce during the banner raising ceremony or have watched Garnett at all throughout his career, do you honestly believe this team is satiated? Their original goal was to restore the pride, which they did. Their new goal is to stamp a collective legacy and do something that not even the original Big Three was able to accomplish: capture back-to-back titles. Go on and tell them it’s not possible. Last I checked, anything’s possible.

Lurking: Cleveland Cavaliers

If I’m the rest of the league I genuinely fear this team. Lebron is at the point in his career where only he can hinder himself (see: free throw shooting and unnecessary treys). The Cavs are tough, defensive-minded, strong on the glass and now armed with a legitimate threat at point guard (Mo Williams). The only thing Cavs fans should be worried about is whether or not the gold medal King James earned in Beijing sufficiently validated his status as a “global icon”. For the sake of a fan base holding on by a thread in the City that Rocks, let’s hope not.

Time’s Slippin Away: Detroit Pistons

Joe Dumars is like the schoolyard bully. He’ll push you around and talk a big game but won’t ever make a serious move. Following each of the last three underwhelming exits by his team a step short of the Finals, the Pistons GM threatened to implode the NBA’s steadiest nucleus. Yet for the fifth consecutive season the Fab Four of Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince will be running Motown. Year after year they play hard and dole out respect — on their own terms. That holier-than-thou mentality has consistently irked Dumars but not enough to actually blow the team up. You can’t have it both ways.

To Be Determined: Orlando Magic

Dwight Howard was positively dominant in the first round against Toronto last year before slipping markedly against the Pistons and ultimately ceding the role of primary big man to Chris Bosh in the Olympics. Look, that’s not to say his inevitable 25-17-7 season won’t be this year. The auxiliary guys are in place on the Magic. Jameer Nelson is a plus point guard. Rashard Lewis is a rainmaker from beyond the arc and Hedo Turkoglu has developed into a primetime performer. When Superman decides to take that next step, this is a team that will be immediately elevated to contender.

Western Conference

The Favorite: Los Angeles Lakers

Anyone who was wondering if Kobe Bryant’s reign as best player in the world had ended saw their concerns squelched in, oh about eight minutes. Those would be the last eight minutes of the gold medal game against Spain. Now Kobe has his gold along with a new front line that will feature Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum together for the first time. The West will again be stacked and nasty, but let’s not kid ourselves. Nobody will win more games than the Lakers. That, however, has nothing to do with any possible lingering effects LA may feel from the physical and psychological pounding they took from Boston in the Finals last year. Kobe can get over it, but can the same be said of Lamar Odom and Gasol? Bynum or not, these Lakers aren’t avenging last year without those two.

Lurking: New Orleans Hornets

I love this team. Love them as much as the LJ Knicks and the old Blazers. True, that’s neither here nor there but I just had to establish how much love I have for this squad. And that was before Mr. Manlove himself (aka Mr. Clutch, aka the Mercenary, aka I’ll-be-ten-times-more-valuable-in-the-playoffs-than-I-was-in-the-regular-season) James Posey signed with them. I believe Chris Paul has an excellent chance of going down as the greatest point guard to ever play the game. I believe after disposing of the team formerly known as the Mavs and tussling seven grueling games with the team of the decade (San Antonio), the Hornets will enter the ’09 postseason hardened and determined. And I believe with Posey, you can now add two wins to whatever total N’Awlins was expected to tally in the playoffs. Those are my beliefs.

Time’s Slippin Away: Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs

It’s fairly simple for each of these franchises, which we’ll group together as co-founders of the new NBA Senior Circuit. The Suns have a chance if they can complete a philosophical one-eighty and become a half court, defensive team with Amare Stoudemire manning the middle. Steve Nash is still the grittiest player in the league, Shaq is still, um, kinda scary, and Grant Hill is still … alive? Wait, am I supposed to be making a case for the Suns? Hmm. Let’s talk about the Spurs. Manu Ginobili’s injury gives them a shot. Why? Because regardless, he’s not playing 100 games this year, not the way he throws his body around. Better to miss the first 20 than the last 15. And don’t forget, it’s an odd year! That’s right, 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007 all concluded with Spurs championships. That means something. Just ask the skeletons of Bruce Bowen and Michael Finley.

To Be Determined: Houston Rockets

Oh the possibilities. Here we have a team whose exceptionally talented starting five consists of a legendary street-baller, a renowned throw-teammates-under-the-busser, a genetically engineered super-hooper, a fabled fan-brawler and an instigative Argentine. For the uninitiated, that would be Rafer Alston (who’s tempered the Skip 2 My Lou persona), Tracy McGrady (who finally knows how to lose a playoff series and not blame everyone else), Yao Ming (who’s now permitted to write a check), Ron Artest (who hasn’t punched anyone in the face … recently) and Luis Scola (who should never guard Artest in practice). Yep, suffice to say, the 2009 Rockets are “to be determined” until further notice.

Predicted Standings

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Celtics (61-21)

2. Cleveland Cavaliers (55-27)

3. Orlando Magic (52-30)

4. Detroit Pistons (53-29)

5. Miami Heat (48-34)

6. Toronto Rapters (46-36)

7. Philadelphia 76ers (44-38)

8. Chicago Bulls (41-41)

————————–

9. Washington Wizards (40-42)

10. Atlanta Hawks (38-44)

11. New York Knicks (35-47)

12. Milwaukee Bucks (33-49)

13. Indiana Pacers (32-50)

14. New Jersey Nets (28-54)

15. Charlotte Bobcats (20-62)

Western Conference

1. Los Angeles Lakers (64-18)

2. New Orleans Hornets (60-22)

3. Utah Jazz (55-27)

4. San Antonio Spurs (54-28)

5. Houston Rockets (53-29)

6. Portland Trail Blazers (48-34)

7. Phoenix Suns (47-35)

8. Dallas Mavericks (45-37)

——————————

9. Denver Nuggets (44-38)

10. Golden State Warriors (40-42)

11. Los Angeles Clippers (39-43)

12. Sacramento Kings (35-47)

13. Minnesota Timberwolves (33-49)

14. Oklahoma City Thunder (27-55)

15. Memphis Grizzlies (18-64)

Playoffs

First Round

Boston over Chicago; Cleveland over Philadelphia; Orlando over Toronto; Detroit over Miami

LA Lakers over Dallas; New Orleans over Phoenix; Portland over Utah; Houston over San Antonio

Conference Semifinals

Boston over Detroit; Cleveland over Orlando

LA Lakers over Houston; New Orleans over Portland

Conference Finals

Boston over Cleveland

LA Lakers over New Orleans

Finals

LA Lakers over Boston