Ric Bucher needs to stop.
The Byook just wrote a column (sorry if you're not an insider...though you're not missing much) that continues to overuse of the term "alpha-dog" into meaninglessness while also misusing the term altogether. His argument here is that Kevin Durant is not an "alpha-dog (a now meaningless term)" because he allows other players on his team to do things and that his doing this is actually beneficial to his team. If "alpha-dog" had a meaning at this point, it would be exactly what Kevin Durant is. He saves his "pack" when things are going bad and he allows them to flourish otherwise because he is completely lacking in insecurity. At least that should be the idea. This column manages to backhandedly compliment an up-and-coming (potential) future hall of fame player who is coming into his own in a way that lacks fear AND insecurity (an extremely difficult thing to do) as well as sneak in a few unwarranted cap tips to Kobe Bryant and throw in a few general inaccuracies as well. Bravo.
Metta World Peace was closer to the truth than you think. The Lakers were outmatched in speed but not in size or skill. They were dominated in the very first game when the young Thunder came out and hit every shot with their home crowd behind them but otherwise, the series could have gone either way. The difference here was that Kobe Bryant, while always being severely overrated in crunch time, was especially bad against the Thunder. Kobe single-handedly lost two out of the four games with an assist, of course, from the clutch play of Durant (in plainly obvious contrast to Bryant's). All the while he gives no credit to Durant, publicly criticizes his best players, and curses to the media while receiving praise from all angles.
Let's not let Kobe's idiotic comments to the media cloud our vision as basketball fans (for the record, he does play for your fucking approval). Let's recognize how impressive what Kevin Durant and the rest of the young Thunder did in crunch time against a veteran team in important games that were very much in doubt.
So what's left? Four teams with strengths and weaknesses all their own. I will give you one of each.
The Boston Celtics
Strength: Toughness
The Boston Celtics, at this point, are almost nothing but tough. Game 7 against the 76ers was won by Rajon Rondo hitting a couple of outside shots (which he sucks at) simply because he had to. They can't score more than 85 points so they'll make you score 75. It's the only saving grace they have against the Miami Heat this year. If healthy, Boston matches up fairly well with Miami...which brings us to the weakness.
Weakness: Age
It can be argued that being old is what made them tough. However, the other fringe benefits of age (continuity, execution, shooting prowess) elude them while the downfalls of extensive mileage (sloth, poor health, lack of general youthful exuberance) now embody this team. The Boston Celtics really are a poor offensive team and their struggles against the forgettable 76ers were real. Boston couldn't stay in front of Philadelphia's quick guards and couldn't really shake them on offense either. Both of those things are alarming going into a series against a Miami Heat team that includes two of the most impressive physical specimens of this generation.
The Miami Heat
Strength: James/Wade
It's as simple as that. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are the two most physically dominant players left in the playoffs and have the intelligence and experience to make incredible plays at back-breaking times. While they still don't play especially well together, having two players who can "do it all" as they can is still a load for a defense (and perhaps more notably, an offense) to handle as long that advantage is not willingly squandered by the pair of them. Each of those two players have, in the past, been enough to drag their own teams past others who don't reach a certain hurdle of competence so you'd better leave some extra space between yourself and that bar if you expect to beat both of them.
Weakness: Everyone Else
I've already at least tried to beat the issue of this team's lack of toughness and their distasteful self awareness to death so let's concentrate on the "supporting" cast. Every one of them, including coach Erik Spoelstra, take every cue from LeBron and Wade who are both capable of falling into funks. Both LeBron and Wade have always gotten by on athleticism, good vibes, intelligence and a general "feel" about how sports work. They don't, however, and an incredible depth of skills or "moves," if you will, to fall back on. They hit shots because they're on fire, not because they're good shooters. So, if the tide turns, they can go extremely cold because of the lack of confidence in the simple form of shooting or running a play, because they almost never have had to use either of those things in their lives. This, in turn, makes everyone else terrified to shoot. Troubling news if you're facing someone who thinks they're good enough to win it all.
The Oklahoma City Thunder
Strength: Speed
For their age, they are also a little more poised and a little more skilled than they really should be, but their advantage over EVERY other team (yes, including the Heat) is their speed. They are comfortable playing faster than really anything I've ever seen which makes their ceiling the highest of any team left.
Weakness: Post Scoring
Again, their obvious weakness is their inexperience, but it doesn't seem to affect them as much as it would most teams so that's not what I'm focusing on. The Thunder are very pleased that Serge Ibaka now takes a ten-footer and makes it occasionally which should show you how lacking they are in offensive skill in the post. Their other starting big man is Kendrick Perkins who has zero touch and can't make free throws. This means that, in crunch time or when they are trying to ice a lead, they have to keep running and taking jump shots. This is certainly not the most effective way of operating but goddamn is it fun to watch.
The San Antonio Spurs
Strength and Weakness: One Speed
To shake things up, the Spurs' strength and weakness is the same thing.
The Spurs, to me, because of their fantastic coaching, intelligence and lack of a real dominant physical presence, have always been a "hurdle" team. This means that they set the bar at a nine out of ten. If no team can take it's game to a ten, the Spurs get the trophy. The Spurs play at one speed which means they are steady in the clutch, don't panic when they get down, and it also means that they theoretically couldn't keep up with either the Heat or the Thunder if they decided to put it all together out of the blue. But with the Thunder's best players being younger than yours truly (24) and the Heat being without a healthy Bosh, the Spurs become the favorites.
We'll see in the next month if anyone can clear that hurdle.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
NBA Playoffs 2nd Round: Reevaluations
To say that a lot has happened since my first take on the NBA Playoff landscape would be an understatement. In fact, the best player on the team I picked to win it all suffered an injury that will keep him out until probably this time NEXT year and could quite possibly cause me to never pick that team to win it all again...less than 24 hours after I picked them.
Which, by the way, is really sad. I always said that the violence of his cuts and jump stops was astonishing and it has apparently caught up to him. Injuries suck.
Anyway, I think it's high time we have another look.
Eastern Conference
Boston Celtics (5) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (8)
As I was waking up this morning, I heard Doug Collins' post game press conference where he said that the Celtics saw how the Heat played without Chris Bosh and saw an "opportunity," which is why Boston killed Philadelphia on the Sixers' home floor. That comment is interesting for a variety of reasons.
First, Doug Collins, the coach of the 76ers, just made a comment making it seem self-evident that the Celtics were better than the Sixers and could end the series, essentially, whenever they want. Typically, there is a statement of resignation by a coach when he's outmatched. Something like, "Hey, we know they're really good but we're gonna do what we can, etc., etc." This was a very big-picture analysis for a coach. I think it's interesting to be comfortable making a public comment that very strongly implies that the OTHER team is in complete control of the series.
Second, he's right...The Celtics are in complete control of the series AND I think that they do now think that they have a puncher's chance at winning it all. The Celtics are really old (in case you weren't aware)...and not a San Antonio kind of old either. They look tired. It looks like every game, at this point, could actually shorten the life of Pierce and Garnett. In fact, before Chris Bosh got hurt (the first two games of the series), they looked like they took about the first 43 minutes of the game off and assumed they could win it in the end for the sole purpose of conserving energy. And they actually could win the series that way, but I think that they did get a little shot of adrenaline from the Bosh injury. Expect this series to end very soon.
Miami Heat (2) vs. Indiana Pacers (3)
The Heat are in deep trouble and everyone can smell it.
Losing Chris Bosh has most likely ended their season just as losing Derrick Rose ended Chicago's. The only difference is that it's not being talked about in those terms as much which is just another example of why this Heat team is so unlikable and unfamiliar.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have to act like they can do it by themselves, even if they know they can't. That was basically the bet they made with the world. By creating the present day Miami Heat, James and Wade forfeited their statuses as fan favorites, as well as risked further humiliation if they never managed to win a Title. Whether or not LeBron and Wade's skills complimented each other AT ALL didn't seem to matter. It was just hard to believe that the league's best player and the league's second best perimeter player surrounded with literally anyone couldn't win it all on accident a few times.
Well, that plan is in serious jeopardy. If Chris Bosh is out for the rest of the playoffs, I don't think the Heat can beat the Celtics or any team in the West and I'm not even sure they will beat the Pacers. Bosh is the only guy of the three who actually is suited and is willing to compliment the game of anybody else on the team. As much as people have called him "soft," he does more of the "dirty work," if you will, than James or Wade. He gets rebounds, he guards pick and roll, he shoots spot up jumpers...all non-glamorous duties. Not to mention he does all of this with zero help from any other big man. He allows the Heat to not have to play Rony Turiaf, Udonis Haslem (playing poorly), Dexter Pittman, Juwan Howard and Eddy Curry. That's an enormous drop off.
Even with Bosh I had my doubts. Make no mistake, this is a sensitive group of guys. They're the biggest and the strongest but they care what you think. They are in a doldrums and public opinion seems almost impossible to salvage and the more they stay in denial about their dire condition, the longer it extends the funk. Where we stand now, I see the Heat losing to the Celtics, who already matched up pretty well with them.
Western Conference
San Antonio Spurs (1) vs. L.A. Clippers (5)
The Clippers have no business being here.
The Memphis Grizzlies have a better team and a better coach but were out-willed by the shortest guy on the floor.
I guess I don't need to gush over Chris Paul. He's probably my favorite player in the league. But in an era where it would be considered normal to give up when you know you have no chance to win a title when you are an elite player, Chris Paul didn't even consider it. He's sacrificing the future of his knees because he's a true competitor. His coach, organization and bench are all bad and he lost his starting shooting guard for whom they had no replacement, but he kept going. He also appears to be rubbing off on Blake Griffin who had some really good games against the Grizzlies last round for a power forward with almost no moves. It's great when your leader instinctively knows what to do at every moment of the game. It makes it a lot easier to grow as a player.
(Side note: Tim Legler of ESPN used his touch screen to rank the most clutch players left in the playoffs. Long story short, Kobe was number 1 and Chris Paul didn't make the top 5. There is a right answer to this question and he wasn't even close.)
An athlete thinking about his legacy or how to micro manage his status in the league while he's still playing, to me, is similar to an artist thinking about what he or she can do to make his/her art "sell." It accomplishes the goal, technically, but it doesn't seem like the way to get the purest form of whatever is being created. This era's stars LOVE doing that...but Chris Paul doesn't. And that, among other things, is why I like him.
In other news, Chris Paul's Clippers have almost no chance of winning this series. They're simply not a complete team and San Antonio most certainly is.
Oklahoma City Thunder (2) vs. L.A. Lakers (3)
Game 2 of this series showed us a lot.
First, the Lakers can't beat the Thunder. If they didn't win that game, they aren't going to win the series. L.A. held the highest scoring team in the league to 77 points and lost. Furthermore, they don't have the coach or the character as a team to come back from that tough of a loss.
Second, Kobe Bryant is now obsolete. There's a newer model called Kevin Durant and he's taller and a better shooter. Oh, and his teammates like him.While Durant shined, Kobe showed, once again, that he is far from infallible in crunch time, especially in the playoffs against a worthy opponent. But hey, who is?
(The answer to that question is either A. The best players ever are close to infallible in the clutch against a worthy opponent or B. Nobody, but the best players never have worthy opponents so it's a trick question).
Third, the Thunder aren't yet trustworthy. As long as they stay loose and keep their foot on the gas, the Lakers can't touch them (you can't touch thunder). But scoring 50 points less the second game of a series when you're at home is pretty darn shaky. And even though Durant has hit a couple game-winners, neither of those shots screamed "calm and efficient execution down the stretch" to me. It screamed, "Holy Shit, nobody else in the league could have even got that shot off let alone made it."
The Thunder probably have the best group of players left but it's down to them and San Antonio to see who has the best team left. I'm interested to find out.
Which, by the way, is really sad. I always said that the violence of his cuts and jump stops was astonishing and it has apparently caught up to him. Injuries suck.
Anyway, I think it's high time we have another look.
Eastern Conference
Boston Celtics (5) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (8)
As I was waking up this morning, I heard Doug Collins' post game press conference where he said that the Celtics saw how the Heat played without Chris Bosh and saw an "opportunity," which is why Boston killed Philadelphia on the Sixers' home floor. That comment is interesting for a variety of reasons.
First, Doug Collins, the coach of the 76ers, just made a comment making it seem self-evident that the Celtics were better than the Sixers and could end the series, essentially, whenever they want. Typically, there is a statement of resignation by a coach when he's outmatched. Something like, "Hey, we know they're really good but we're gonna do what we can, etc., etc." This was a very big-picture analysis for a coach. I think it's interesting to be comfortable making a public comment that very strongly implies that the OTHER team is in complete control of the series.
Second, he's right...The Celtics are in complete control of the series AND I think that they do now think that they have a puncher's chance at winning it all. The Celtics are really old (in case you weren't aware)...and not a San Antonio kind of old either. They look tired. It looks like every game, at this point, could actually shorten the life of Pierce and Garnett. In fact, before Chris Bosh got hurt (the first two games of the series), they looked like they took about the first 43 minutes of the game off and assumed they could win it in the end for the sole purpose of conserving energy. And they actually could win the series that way, but I think that they did get a little shot of adrenaline from the Bosh injury. Expect this series to end very soon.
Miami Heat (2) vs. Indiana Pacers (3)
The Heat are in deep trouble and everyone can smell it.
Losing Chris Bosh has most likely ended their season just as losing Derrick Rose ended Chicago's. The only difference is that it's not being talked about in those terms as much which is just another example of why this Heat team is so unlikable and unfamiliar.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have to act like they can do it by themselves, even if they know they can't. That was basically the bet they made with the world. By creating the present day Miami Heat, James and Wade forfeited their statuses as fan favorites, as well as risked further humiliation if they never managed to win a Title. Whether or not LeBron and Wade's skills complimented each other AT ALL didn't seem to matter. It was just hard to believe that the league's best player and the league's second best perimeter player surrounded with literally anyone couldn't win it all on accident a few times.
Well, that plan is in serious jeopardy. If Chris Bosh is out for the rest of the playoffs, I don't think the Heat can beat the Celtics or any team in the West and I'm not even sure they will beat the Pacers. Bosh is the only guy of the three who actually is suited and is willing to compliment the game of anybody else on the team. As much as people have called him "soft," he does more of the "dirty work," if you will, than James or Wade. He gets rebounds, he guards pick and roll, he shoots spot up jumpers...all non-glamorous duties. Not to mention he does all of this with zero help from any other big man. He allows the Heat to not have to play Rony Turiaf, Udonis Haslem (playing poorly), Dexter Pittman, Juwan Howard and Eddy Curry. That's an enormous drop off.
Even with Bosh I had my doubts. Make no mistake, this is a sensitive group of guys. They're the biggest and the strongest but they care what you think. They are in a doldrums and public opinion seems almost impossible to salvage and the more they stay in denial about their dire condition, the longer it extends the funk. Where we stand now, I see the Heat losing to the Celtics, who already matched up pretty well with them.
Western Conference
San Antonio Spurs (1) vs. L.A. Clippers (5)
The Clippers have no business being here.
The Memphis Grizzlies have a better team and a better coach but were out-willed by the shortest guy on the floor.
I guess I don't need to gush over Chris Paul. He's probably my favorite player in the league. But in an era where it would be considered normal to give up when you know you have no chance to win a title when you are an elite player, Chris Paul didn't even consider it. He's sacrificing the future of his knees because he's a true competitor. His coach, organization and bench are all bad and he lost his starting shooting guard for whom they had no replacement, but he kept going. He also appears to be rubbing off on Blake Griffin who had some really good games against the Grizzlies last round for a power forward with almost no moves. It's great when your leader instinctively knows what to do at every moment of the game. It makes it a lot easier to grow as a player.
(Side note: Tim Legler of ESPN used his touch screen to rank the most clutch players left in the playoffs. Long story short, Kobe was number 1 and Chris Paul didn't make the top 5. There is a right answer to this question and he wasn't even close.)
An athlete thinking about his legacy or how to micro manage his status in the league while he's still playing, to me, is similar to an artist thinking about what he or she can do to make his/her art "sell." It accomplishes the goal, technically, but it doesn't seem like the way to get the purest form of whatever is being created. This era's stars LOVE doing that...but Chris Paul doesn't. And that, among other things, is why I like him.
In other news, Chris Paul's Clippers have almost no chance of winning this series. They're simply not a complete team and San Antonio most certainly is.
Oklahoma City Thunder (2) vs. L.A. Lakers (3)
Game 2 of this series showed us a lot.
First, the Lakers can't beat the Thunder. If they didn't win that game, they aren't going to win the series. L.A. held the highest scoring team in the league to 77 points and lost. Furthermore, they don't have the coach or the character as a team to come back from that tough of a loss.
Second, Kobe Bryant is now obsolete. There's a newer model called Kevin Durant and he's taller and a better shooter. Oh, and his teammates like him.While Durant shined, Kobe showed, once again, that he is far from infallible in crunch time, especially in the playoffs against a worthy opponent. But hey, who is?
(The answer to that question is either A. The best players ever are close to infallible in the clutch against a worthy opponent or B. Nobody, but the best players never have worthy opponents so it's a trick question).
Third, the Thunder aren't yet trustworthy. As long as they stay loose and keep their foot on the gas, the Lakers can't touch them (you can't touch thunder). But scoring 50 points less the second game of a series when you're at home is pretty darn shaky. And even though Durant has hit a couple game-winners, neither of those shots screamed "calm and efficient execution down the stretch" to me. It screamed, "Holy Shit, nobody else in the league could have even got that shot off let alone made it."
The Thunder probably have the best group of players left but it's down to them and San Antonio to see who has the best team left. I'm interested to find out.
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