Anyone else wondering how Mike Brown stole the coach of the year award? If you aren't, you probably haven't watched any of the Eastern Conference Finals this past week. Cleveland's coach has been thoroughly out-coached JVG's lesser brother SVG. Don't forget that Brown had more points in the COY voting than second place finisher Rick Adelman and third place finisher SVG combined. Sure, the Cavs were the best team in the regular season; however, that is because of the King and not because of Coach Brown's great schemes and motivation. Every Cavs possession it seems that they waste 15 or 16 seconds before giving Lebron the ball 25 feet from the basket. It is the coaches responsibility to make the team execute the offense, and this offense is an affront to basketball fans around the world.
A perfect example of Brown's ineptitude as a coach was the last minute of overtime in game 4 last night. With 6.4 seconds left in overtime and down 4 points, he called a timeout and stood in the huddle silently as an assistant coach drew up a play to give Lebron the chance to hit his ridiculous, falling-into-the-Magic-bench three pointer. I think drawing up a play in overtime with their team's playoff life on the line is part of the job description for any NBA coach, let alone the COY. Then, with 3.2 seconds to go and down 2, the Cavs have the ball under the basket, but... NO TIMEOUTS! Lebron's desperate, falling-left, half-court heave barely misses, and the Cavs are on the brink of elimination.
First, let me address the first issue. No head coach should defer to an assistant with the game on the line in the playoffs. Brown's forte might be defense, but even JVG (the greatest defensive coach in the history of the NBA) would take charge during a time out such as this one. It is completely unacceptable for a NBA Head Coach to defer to an assistant. If the owner wanted the assistant making big decisions, he would have hired him as head coach.
Cavaliers' Coach Mike Brown's "Maybe This Offense Doesn't Work" Face
Second, no timeouts? What? He had three timeouts for the entire overtime period, so he should have saved them for the last few possessions. (At the end of the game in the NBA, the ball is moved from the baseline to half-court when a timeout is called). If, anticipating the situation, Brown saves one timeout for the last possession, Lebron has time to get close enough to the basket to get a shot with a good chance to go in. Maybe if Brown saves a timeout, the Cavs are tied 2-2 and have home-court advantage. Timeouts and time management are two things the head coach has complete control over. He can't make shots or get stops, but he can give his players a chance to be great. Last night's overtime offers undeniable evidence of Mike Brown's coaching incompetence.
I am not the only one who doesn't think Brown is a good coach. Hell, he agrees. Brown says, "I don't feel like I'm a motivator." I agree. Brown says, "Offensively, the last three years, we weren't good mainly because of me." Once again, I agree. So Mike, what do you do for the Cavaliers? You are keeping the greatest player of our generation from winning a championship, and you are making a team that should be an exciting offensive team as boring as the San Antonio Spurs. This is unacceptable and doesn't warrant consideration for COY, let alone the award its self.
Every time the Cavs have a wasted possession, it gives Lebron a reason to head to NYC and Mike D'Antoni's free-flowing offensive machine. Mike Brown is the only reason Lebron might make the exodus from Cleveland (except the supposed $40 million bonus he will supposedly get for playing in NYC and his awful supporting cast). Anyone else up for the King trying his hand as player-coach? It might be the only way for Cleveland to beat the Magic.
Just a quick thought before we get to the hard work. Lebron James is inhuman. That turnaround three was unbelievable and I honest-to-god believed that his half-court three was going in. He's just that good. If you had told me that he had made a 35 footer to win the game, I wouldn't have been surprised. Amazed? Of course. Surprised? No way in hell. Nothing with this guy surprises you anymore.
While we're on the topic of the unbelievable, Dwight Howard's sixth technical foul was a joke of a call and I'm glad that it was rescinded. For those of you who didn't catch it, Dwight made a great play, scored, and yelled. That's it. That's not a technical foul. That's a good player scoring and getting excited. The referees need to see reactions for what they are, let players be players, and loosen up a little bit. If Dwight had missed a possible Game 6 or 7 because of that technical, Orlando would have been up in flames. So yes, I agree that Dwight's technical should have been taken back by the league.
Magic-Cavaliers
-Every bad habit of the Cavaliers we thought had died is popping back up. I actually don't know any of their bad habits besides standing around and watching Lebron, but that's the one that keeps popping up. That's the reason they're down 3-1. And that's why they're going to lose this series. If Lebron James is averaging 42 points and 7 assists a game, there's no reason you should be losing a series. Unless those 42 points and 7 assists make up half of your overall points as a team. As great as he is, no one man can beat a team. And the Magic are team. A hell of a team actually. Sorry Lebron. We thought Mo was the answer. We were wrong.
-Dwight Howard is hitting his free throws. When Dwight came out and complained about not getting enough touches towards the ends of games, I laughed at him. I said that he has no reliable post moves and that teams could just foul him and waste possessions for the Magic. I was wrong. Last night he dominated the overtime, scoring 10 points and carrying the Magic to victory. He even made two clutch free throws to effectively end the game. Throw in his usual, award-winning defense and there's a good chance that we just saw the birth of a superstar last night. See, this is why I'm hoping that neither Lebron or Kobe make the Finals. I love one of them (not Kobe) and I think it would be a great matchup, but people need to realize that there are many, many phenomenal players in the NBA and that we shouldn't be putting all our eggs into one basket. Even if that basket is a 6'9", 270 pound man who can score like Jordan and pass like Magic.
-Rafer Alston is one win away from the NBA Finals. Let me repeat that. Rafer Alston. Our "beloved" Skip is on his way to playing for an NBA Championship. And he scored 26 points last night to actually help is team in a good way in an important game. Who would've thought, right? I don't know if we should be happy for him or bitter. I'm just going to settle for pleasantly perplexed.
-The Magic are better than the Cavaliers. Yes, yes I know, we're not allowed to say things like that. It's sacrilege or something of that nature. But it's true. They won two games by 40 points combined and lost by 4 during the regular season, and now could easily have just swept the Cavaliers. At first glance, making 17 threes last night seems like an anomaly. And yes, it's a lot. But when you dig a little deeper, you realize that that's the Orlando Magic. They shoot the ball and they shoot it damn well. When you factor in how open the threes were, 17 threes is almost a foregone conclusion. And it's not even Cleveland's fault. If they stay home on the shooters, they open the lane to the likes of Courtney Lee and especially Hedo Turkoglu with his constant driving, dishing, and scoring. Oh, and of course, that means they can't double-team this guy. Which, as we saw last night, probably isn't a good thing.
All things considered, I don't want to act like I saw this coming. I saw this coming after Game 1, but if you had told me a team would be up 3-1 in this series, I would not have guessed the Magic to be that team. Yes, that means I thought the Cavaliers were going to win. But, here we are. The King is about to be dethroned by a team without it's starting point guard, who also happens to be an All-Star. Just saying. Then again, being an All-Star doesn't seem to mean much in this series. Just ask him. Mo, just an idea here, but don't talk trash when you're on the Cavaliers and are not named Lebron. It just makes those 5-15 nights when you leave Lebron to fight a team all by himself that much worse for you.
Lakers-Nuggets
What's left to be said here? A lot actually. I don't really know why I said that. The Nuggets put on a valiant show in Game 4, beating the Lakers with defense, rebounding and some fire from J.R. Smith. But more on that later.
-Chris Andersen. That's it. If you saw the mini-documentary on him during the halftime show, you'd [hopefully] understand my man-crush on him a little better. When he said, "Look at me now," I teared up. Alright that's an exaggeration. But it was still a great video nonetheless. Billy put it up, take a look at it. I'd link you to it, but there's no way in hell I'm linking you to something Billy posted. Find it yourself.
-The Nuggets big men (Andersen, Nene, Martin) combined for 42 rebounds while Odom, Gasol and Bynum had 23 put together. In other words, the Nuggets wanted it and the boys in purple didn't. The Lakers had a 58-40 rebounding advantage and won the offensive board battle 20-9. The Lakers cannot allow that to happen again if they want to win this series. So, yeah, L.A., allow it to happen again.
-The Nuggets were able to win on a night when Kobe got his 34 and 'Melo was sick and injured. That means, like I've said before, that the Nuggets are the better team. They are deeper and have more weapons, which is why they won by 19 points with Carmelo struggling.
-A big reason for that was J.R. Smith. He did what we've expected him to do all series long. He came in, took a bunch of shots and changed the game. And, before we move on, I'd just like to point out something to you. "I'm not worried. J.R. Smith is the definition of streaky, and I won't be surprised if he averages 22 a game in the next two games in Denver on something like 60 percent shooting from three and 55 percent shooting from the field." That was me. Yes, I was actually [half] right about something. I know, it was only in Game 4 and my percentages were way off. I'll take credit anyway. It'd be great if you threw me a bone and agreed with me. 24 points, 4 threes and 1 badass post-shot celebration for this man.
J.R. Smith (the shirtless one), tatted up and ready to go.
So that leaves us at 2-2, with a big game tonight. A huge game. Monumental. Birdman-hair sized. That was a recycled joke. I think the winner of Game 5 wins the series, so here's hoping that the Nuggets win.
A Nuggets win tonight is dependent on their defense, rebounding, hustle and Carmelo Anthony. If they outplay the Lakers on the defensive end like they did in Game 4 and have a normal game from Anthony, they have a great shot at winning tonight. As for the Lakers, they need to remember how to box out, grab rebounds and most importantly, want the game. They can't come out flat like they've been prone to doing, and even games like Game 4 when they play hard but not as hard as they could will kill them against a team like the Nuggets. Against the Rockets, unfortunately, no. But against the more talented, deeper and fiery Nuggets? Yes. It's going to be another fight akin to Games 1-3. Don't expect a blowout. Don't expect any niceties to be exchanged between the two sides. This isn't the Champion's League (I actually shouldn't have said that. I watched Barcelona vs. Manchester United and actually enjoyed all of it. It was exciting and a great change of pace from what I'm used to. I think I'm actually starting to like soccer). But still, I mean what I said. There'll be no love lost between these two teams. It's far too late for that. Now is when things get chippy, ugly and sometimes even downright dirty. That means no more tripping, Dahntay. I'm looking forward to another great game and hopefully the boys in baby blue can pull out the win. If not, I don't really mind. At least not as much as I did before. My respect for Bryant has actually grown a lot, and while I still can't stand him, the Lakers or their fans, I suppose I don't hate them as much. That being said, I still want my Carmelo-Dwight Finals and would love to see Sasha Vujacic trying to console a raging-mad Kobe Bryant after they fail to win the championship yet again. And you're welcome to go now, I'm pretty much done here.
Just as an aside, I ordered a Hedo Turkoglu and Carmelo Anthony t-shirt jersey today. They should be here in about a week. Yes, just in time for the Finals. I don't know where my loyalties will lie if they face each other for the NBA Championship, so I got both just in case. I'll probably do something like switch shirts at halftime, or cheer for the home team. But my strange man-love is a completely different path that we don't need to be taking right now. Happy Wednesday and enjoy Game 5.
Kobe can do better. That was directed at you, Lebron. You gave us an amazing shot, Kobe gave us an amazing fourth quarter. I'm expecting something special from you tonight. And this is the part where I remember that I'm betting against Lebron and punch a wall a few times. By the way, since we're on the topic of my bet, I realized that it really is the definition of a win-win situation. I win the bet and I get 30 dollars, I "lose" the bet and I get to eat a whole box of Eggo cereal. Was that just me trying to rationalize a stupid bet after picking against Lebron James? You bet your ass it was.
Lakers-Nuggets
I don't want to be seen as someone who shies away from my mistakes, so let me be the first to say that I was wrong. I said that the Nuggets would win Game 3 and was wrong. I said that Carmelo would prove to us that he's on the same level as Kobe and Lebron (which he is, he just wasn't last night) and was wrong. And probably most importantly, I forgot that Kobe Bryant was on the Lakers, which wasn't just wrong but was flat-out stupid. And even though I mentioned it in the previous paragraph, I'm not buying into this supposed Kobe-Lebron duel with each trying to top the other's exploits. Yes, Kobe is aware of what Lebron is doing. So are about a billion other people. Yes, Kobe knows that somewhere along the line this year we all decided to move the title of "The Best Player In The World" off of him and on to Lebron. And yes, a small part of what Kobe did in Game 3 was probably a giant bitch-slap to every basketball fan's collective face after we idolized Lebron for 24 hours, but I believe that the main reason Kobe won the game was, well, because they needed to win the game. It's as simple as that. Kobe knew, like he's known so many times before, that the Lakers needed him to carry them to the finish line and he did just that. There was no "take that Lebron" or trying to outdo The King, there was just a cold-blooded killer breaking the hearts of 20,000 fans in a game his team had to have.
That being said, the Nuggets should have won this game. But instead we were treated to "Furious George Screws Up An Inbounds Play: The Sequel," which was quickly followed by Carmelo Anthony fouling out, effectively ending the game. I still think that the Nuggets are the better team in this series and that they should be up 3-0, but the Lakers have Kobe Bryant and it's starting to look more and more like that just might be enough. At least as long as the Nuggets keep making unintelligent plays down the stretch. And now, rather than going for the sweep on Monday night, the Nuggets will be fighting to stay in the series. It's funny how much one guy changes things. It's also funny how some people never learn.
Don't get me wrong, I believe the Nuggets have a great chance at winning the series, but thanks to two floating, careless passes it's going to be a lot, lot harder. Unnecessarily harder, which might be the worst part. So what do they do now? I would recommend finding a reliable player to pass the ball in. A half-decent sideline inbounds play wouldn't hurt either. After that, they continue to do what they've been doing. They're better than the Lakers, if they stay the course, the winning will come. If not tomorrow, in Game 5. But it will come. Carmelo won't disappear in the second half again like he did in Game 3, Kobe Bryant won't single-handedly win two games in a row (He's getting older and he's getting tired. In his post-game interview both of his hands were on his knees and he was panting more than he was speaking. 2006 Kobe would have never admitted he was drained, let alone show it to the world on national television. Like it or not, he doesn't have enough left in him to dominate every single night.) and the Nuggets won't lose two games in two tries at the Pepsi Center. Hopefully.
And just to clarify, "dominate" doesn't mean scoring 30 for Kobe. That' s nothing for him. Dominate means holding the ball at the end of games for 15-20 seconds per possession and either shooting or creating a shot every time the Lakers go down the floor. And he just can't do that every night anymore. Even after Game 3 he said that the reason the Lakers went to Pau two times on a row late in the game because he was too tired to carry them and needed a break.
Before we go any further, you need to see this. Not just the Lebron shot. We all know that he's not a human being. But the last two minutes as whole. Hedo hits a huge three and a twisting jumper in the lane that we would be talking about this morning if Lebron had never been born (granted, there would a lot less people saying "we are all witnesses" and other variations of the phrase). And after all of that, of course, you have one man breathing life back into 20,057 people at once in less than a second. Add that to the three tense games we've had before Game 2 and we're looking at one hell of a pair of series. And since I have nothing better to do with my time, why not look at both of them in a little more detail?
Western Conference Finals: Lakers-Nuggets
Even though Lebron is busy on the other side of the bracket with his usual ungodly work, this has been my favorite series of the playoffs so far. The frenetic pace, similar quality of the teams and the massive tattoo that is the Denver Nuggets are a few reasons why. Here's what we know after two games.
-Something, somewhere, somehow has clicked for Carmelo Anthony. I've said this before, but I just want to repeat it because I don't think people understand just how good he is. Watching him defend Bryant late in Game 2, his hand waving in Kobe's face, was something special. Yeah, Kobe hit a pull up three and a jumper to tie the game on two separate occasions with that hand waving in his face, but he's Kobe Bryant. You can say all you want about forcing him to his left and trying to make him settle for jump shots, but at the end of the day, he's going to make very, very tough, near impossible shots. That's why he's Kobe Bryant. But Carmelo's ball denial throughout the fourth quarter and especially on the last play of the game was spectacular. Anytime you can make Derek Fisher (and I don't care what the Lakers say about Kobe being a "decoy," we all know that that ball would have been in his hands if they could have gotten it to him) take the last shot of a game, you're in good shape. And I'm putting this up before any of you try to send this to me and try to convince me that Derek Fisher is a viable option in the clutch. That was a fantastic shot, but that was also five years ago. A lot has changed since then. Some things got better, Derek Fisher got worse. The point is, Carmelo has really come into his own in the playoffs this year, and we're finally getting to see it. His offensive game has always been unstoppable, and now that he's doing it on the defensive end as well as winning games, he's right up there with Lebron, Kobe and Wade.
-Chauncey's layup off a pass to himself off Kobe's back. Witty, savvy, intelligent, entertaining, creative, resourceful, brilliant. Just a few ways to describe it.
-The Denver Nuggets are a more talented team than the Los Angeles Lakers. Outside of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Nuggets are better at every position on the floor. Billups, Carmelo and Nene are better than their Lakers counterparts and the Nugget also have the deeper bench. The Lakers might be better coached, better led and an overall better team, but talent-wise the Nuggets are the winners. Of course, they've been talented for years. It's just that now they're finally living up to their potential.
-We're going to find out all we need to know about the Los Angeles Lakers from this series. If they want to beat the Nuggets, the Lakers are going to have to show up to every game and play tough, physical basketball, which are the two things they've been criticized for not doing consistently since last summer. If they do both of those in this series, there's no reason to think they won't in the Finals. Which, by the way, is where they'll be if they do. That combined with the Magic proving that the Cavaliers are still a part of the NBA and can lose to other NBA teams means that Kobe receiving the championship trophy while awkwardly interacting with his teammates and pretending to like them as they wonder why he's not yelling or scowling at them followed by a contrived Bryant speech about how he couldn't have done it by himself before he ignores his team for two months is becoming more and more likely. The only thing that could make this moment any better is if afterwords Sasha Vujacic tried to take the trophy from Bryant to hold, only to get a Kobe elbow to his mouth followed by a "The Only Reason I Talk To Any Of You Is Because I Haven't Found A Way To Clone Myself And Win The Championship By Going Kobe-On-Five" glare from Bryant. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm a little excited.
I'll write a little more after tonight's Game 3, but right now we're moving on to the second series.
Eastern Conference Finals: Magic-Cavaliers
In one of the most surprising games of the playoffs that in hindsight probably shouldn't have been that surprising, the Magic stole Game 1 from the Cavaliers. They tried to do the same in Game 2, but as you saw above, Lebron James had something to say about it. I've got a few incoherent thoughts about the series so far.
-The Magic are an excellent team, and them beating Cleveland is not as out of the question as we'd all like to think. They almost just beat Cleveland twice in two days at Quicken Loans Arena. To put that in perspective, Cleveland only lost twice at home all year, and one of those losses was a game in which Lorenzon Wright played 35 minutes. Don't ask who, it's not important. But listen to the following scenario without thinking about who the teams actually are and decide for yourself. During the regular season, Team A beats Team B twice at home, once by 11 and once by 29, and loses to Team B by 4 on the road. In their first game of the playoffs Team A comes back from a 15 point deficit to win on the road. In Game 2, Team A comes back from 23 down only to lose on a last second three point shot. If you didn't know that Team A was the Magic and Team B was the Cavaliers, who would you pick to win three out of the next five games in the series? It would have to be Team A right? Which brings me to my second point.
-Don't get too excited about the Magic. Even though could easily be up 2-0 right now, they could just as easily be down 2-0. And even though they came back from double digit deficits in both games, there's a reason they were down by so much. They are a streaky team. Any team whose offense is built around three point shooting and a center without any reliable low post moves is going to have stretches where it can't score. Any team led by Rafer Alston, and I know that this doesn't have to be said on a Rockets blog of all places, is going to have it's share of problems. The Magic were also one of the best road teams in the NBA this year and are not that much better at home than they are away from it. So before you jump onto the Magic bandwagon, remember that they still have this guy as their starting point guard.
On a semi-related note, I made a bet with a friend last night about the Magic-Cavaliers series. If the Cavaliers win I have to eat a full box of Eggo cereal with a jug of milk in one sitting. If they lose I get 30 dollars. It's a little lopsided, but so is the series. The reason I'm telling you this is because I'm a Magic fan for the next 3-5 games. So don't get confused if you see a little more fawning over Hedo Turkoglu than usual.
-The "momentum" of a playoff series isn't as big of a deal as people might make it out to be. The reason Lebron's shot was so huge was because it tied the series at 1-1 instead of sending the Cavaliers into Orlando down 0-2. Not because of the confidence or swagger or whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-it it gave back to the Cavs. At the end of the day, a shot is a shot. The Magic had three losses at the buzzer before Game 2, so it obviously didn't have too adverse of an effect on them. And as for the momentum of the series being changed, momentum changes all the time. That's why it's momentum. It's fleeting. If the first play of the game is an entry pass to Dwight Howard followed by one of his thunderous dunks where he nearly throws the ball into the hoop or a Howard block on a Lebron drive that sends the ball into the fourth row, who has the momentum then? It's the fact that it won the game, not the momentum shift it may have caused, that makes Lebron's shot so amazing.
-The Cavaliers shouldn't be panicking. Should they be worried? Yes. But they should have been worried before the series started. The Magic were clearly the better team when they played in the regular season. Eight wins against mediocre teams that probably shouldn't have been in the playoffs doesn't change that. The Cavaliers weren't going to go 16-0 to win the championship, and it's better that their first loss came relatively early. They recovered, won their next game, and now have to win one on the road. It's as simple as that.
-"Carmelo Anthony has been the best player who has played this week...And yes, I'm aware that now Lebron is going to drop 50 tomorrow and make me look like a fool." Damnit. But in all seriousness, I stand by that statement. Hopefully 'Melo does something tonight to make it look like I'm not a complete idiot.
What I'm trying to say in a very ineffective, inefficient and unneccessarily wordy way is that we have up to 10 more close games on our hands, and that's something any basketball fan should be anticipating. The first four games of the Conference Finals have been decided by four possessions, and that's truly special. So many little things can happen in a game like a shot rimming out, a missed free throw, a player stepping out of bounds, a bobbled pass, a bad call (a really bad call, an embarrassingly bad call, you get the idea), that it's rare to have so many games being so close. What's interesting is how important seemingly unimportant things become. For example, Dwight Howard went 4-8 from the free throw line in Game 2. If they had won you would look at the box score and think "So what? He's a terrible free throw shooter. It's expected." Now you look at it wonder what would have happened if he made two of those four that he missed. The beauty of these games is that Anthony Johnson missing a jumper in the second quarter becomes just as important as Lebron James making a three with one second left in the fourth, that Pau Gasol missing three free throws over the course of the game affects the game's outcome just as much as Derek Fisher missing the potentially game-tying three at the buzzer. Hopefully these four games are an indicator of what's yet to come in the Conference Finals, because I don't think anyone, regardless of who they support, would mind more games like the ones we've had. I just hope that Hedo recovers from his heartbreaking defeat at the hands of The King, that the Nuggets are able to push the Lakers and Kobe Bryant a little closer to an emotional breakdown tonight, and that we get as many of those Lebron-Kobe puppet commercials as possible.
A quick note on tonight's Game 3 of the Lakers-Nuggets series. I think the Nuggets are going to win tonight. The Lakers are hungover from a heartbreaking Game 2 loss and are probably scared for the first time in the playoffs, maybe even all year. The Nuggets are confident and are going back home where they haven't lost in something like 24 years (it's more like since mid-March, but it feels like a lot longer). I see another close, highly contested game with more continued brilliance from Carmelo and another victory for the Nuggets. And, by the way, we shouldn't have to say that about Carmelo anymore. He's on that level now with Kobe and Lebron where you don't have to mention that he's going to dominate because everyone already knows it.
Another "quick" note on Lebron's shot. What stood out the most was the reaction of the fans before and after the shot. It really is amazing how in a single second a single person can change the fortune of a team and by consequence an entire city. It was like those decades of suffering of Cleveland sports fans (the Indians haven't won a World Series since 1948, the Cavaliers have never won the championship, the Browns have never won the Super Bowl or even played in one) were erased with that single shot. After years and years of suffering, Cleveland invested everything it had left into an 18 year old kid from Akron and he has blessed them with his play ever since. I was reading a Sports Illustrated article and in it someone said that Lebron was "God's gift to Cleveland," and he proved it to us last night. In one arching, fading motion, Lebron carried the hopes, dreams and wishes of an entire city to a better place. Now that that's out of the way, I'll leave you with this. You know, just to clarify where my loyalties lie.
I noticed a few things in Billy's article and in the Conference Finals that I'd like to share with you. One of them was his blatant misspelling of the word "bait" (he spelled it bate). Another was the comments about how Mcgrady can still help us. I love Mcgrady and argued for him all year until the microfracture surgery, but I don't think that he will ever suit up for us again.
First things first, I understand how good Mcgrady is. I remember that he average something like 24-7-7 during our winning streak last season, I remember his 40 in Game 6 of the Utah series. I also know that you don't go from scoring 40 in your last game of a season to averaging 15 a game the next season naturally, so obviously something was wrong this year. Ideally he has fixed whatever the problem was and will come back fully healthy, but his ability is not the problem anymore (and to be truthful, it never was, it was his commitment to working, but that's another story for another day). In fact, I'm almost sure he's going to go back to averaging 20 points a game, but that's not why he needs to leave our team.
Whether it's true or not, the seed has been planted in every Rocket's head that the team is better without Tracy Mcgrady. For the record, I don't think we are. Yes, we played better without him. We also had a healthy Artest and Battier as well as a newly unleashed Aaron Brooks. Don't forget that when you talk about how we "don't need" Mcgrady. But no matter what the truth is, the Rockets now think they don't need T-Mac. Yes, the Houston Rockets now believe we don't need our supposed savior, the man who was going to take us back to where the Dream took us, the man who "just sucked the gravity right out of the building." The man who beat the Spurs in the greatest comeback in NBA history. Now that we won a playoff series without Mcgrady, the doubt has been solidified. (In an unrelated note, the commercial for "The Hangover" just came on. There is absolutely nothing, and I will repeat, absolutely nothing, more bizarre than Mike Tyson singing "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.) But that's neither here nor there nor anywhere in the vicinity of either of those two places. The point is, Mcgrady will not be able to just walk into practice now that the Rockets "know" that we are better without him. That is the kind of mental damage that cannot be repaired. Bridges have been burned, and I believe it's time for both parties to move on. Not because it's the best option, but because we have to.
That being said, I would have advocated trading Mcgrady anyways. He is past his prime and his contract expires at the perfect time, as Billy just explained, which gives us a lot of options. Hopefully we can parlay (what a word) his contract into a star wing player and actually get somwhere next year. We'll keep you updated with news and our most likely worthless commentary on the matter as the offseason progresses.
And the Nuggets just beat the Lakers in Game 2. The series is tied at 1-1 with two games being decided by a combined 5 points. I'm going to put up a recap of the first two games of both this and the Cavaliers-Magic series on Saturday night, so I'll just make a few comments here.
-Carmelo Anthony has been the best player who has played this week. Yes, I know Kobe and Lebron have been playing, but the things Anthony has been doing are amazing. His offensive game is, since I really have no other word for it, perfect. He can score from inside, outside and everywhere in between. And yes, I'm aware that now Lebron is going to drop 50 tomorrow and make me look like a fool.
-Chauncey Billups is missing free throws. It's probably nothing, but it's still something, if that makes sense. I don't like that he went 1-2 with 4 seconds left when making both of them would win the game. Things like that are what make good teams lose games they should win.
-J.R. Smith has been nonexistent. Actually, he's been existent, he's just been really, really bad. Horrendous even. Usualy out of control. Sometimes just stupid. He's been all of those things, but in all honesty, I'm not worried. J.R. Smith is the definition of streaky, and I won't be surprised if he averages 22 a game in the next two games in Denver on something like 60 percent shooting from three and 55 percent shooting from the field.
-In Game 1, the Nuggets led by 8 after the first quarter and 1 at the half, their biggest lead was 15 and they lost by one possession. In game 2, the Lakers led by 8 after the first quarter and 1 at halftime, their biggest lead was 15 and they lost by one possession. In both games, Pau Gasol made more agonized faces than Yao Ming during an x-ray.
-The Magic are a very good basketball team. In case you missed Game 1, which you shouldn't have, I just want to tell you that it was not an anomaly. They won the way they usually do, Dwight dominating the paint, their shooters hitting 3s and Hedo "The Legend" Turkoglu running the show. And in all seriousness, "The Legend" should be Hedo's new nickname. He deserves it. Really. I'm dead serious. The point of this is that I think they will give the Cavaliers a fight, and while I still think Cleveland is going to win, (that Lebron fellow is not too shabby) I now think it's going to be in 7 games.
I'll post a deeper recap of what I saw in the first four games sometime Saturday, so that's another article for you to read. Or more realistically, another article for you to ignore. Happy Friday everyone.
Also, feel free to call out Billy about his Rockets Season Grades which were supposed to be "coming soon". If Mcgrady had the same work ethic as Billy there's no way he'd even be coming back next year, let alone returning to his pre-surgery form. Oh wait. Damnit. Forget I said anything.
Its his contract. Tracy McGrady's expiring contract is the single most valuable trade asset in the NBA. I repeat, the Rockets have the most valuable asset in the league. Before you call me crazy for saying that an injured player making more than 20 million a year is more desirable trade bate than a healthy all-star, hear me out (and remember that Lebron, Kobe, etc. don't count since they will not be traded).
First, the summer of 2010 is the most anticipated free-agency period in the history of the NBA. Not only will Lebron James be a free-agent, but Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Steve Nash, Shaq, Manu Ginobli, and Darko Milicic (just seeing if your paying attention) will be too. While some of these superstars will surely decide to stay with their current teams, there will be several that enter the market. Teams are trying as hard as they can to clear cap space if they think they have any chance to get one of these guys. Teams looking ahead to free-agency would love to acquire T-Mac's large, expiring contract. The teams I can think of off the top of my head that would do this are New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Dallas. (I'm sure there are others, please leave them in the comment section)
Second, the recession is hitting the NBA hard. Next year the salary cap will go down (this is extremely rare) because of the general money problems around the league. While the top teams still pull in the big bucks, the smaller markets are going to struggle. Penny pinching owners are going to try to get under the luxury tax and lower their bottom line. Bill Simmons wrote a great article about it (which you can find here http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090227). We can use Bill's list of teams in financial trouble: Indiana, Memphis, Milwaukee, Sacramento, New Jersey, New Orleans, Miami, Orlando, Minnesota, Charlotte and Philly.
Third, their are teams that might think that T-Mac could return from injury and help them. Hmmm... Off the top of my head I can think of one team stupid enough to do this: The Los Angeles Clippers and Mike Dunleavy.
All of the teams I mentioned would be interested in T-Mac, so I headed up to ESPN.com's excellent trade machine and put together a few trades. (Remember that a lot of the players mentioned would be involved for salary cap reasons, not necessarily because of ability). Then I added the probability I believe the trade has (5/5 does not mean their is a 100% chance it happens, that isn't what I mean).
1.) New Jersey trades Vince Carter and Eduardo Najera for TMAC. http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cz7ngx A swap of the cousins. We get an underrated perimeter scorer who is more than just a dunker now. They get cap space. At the trade deadline this year, a lot of people were talking about this deal before T-Mac's knee surgery ended the talks. Now that his contract has only one year left, I think this deal could happen. Probability: 4/5
2.) Dallas trades Eric Dampier and Jason Terry for TMAC and Kyle Lowry http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=obv38b I think Mark Cuban would love to make a big splash in free agency in 2010, so he would need to clear a lot of cap room since they were 36 million over the cap this season. Jason Terrry could start at point guard for us or come off the bench and provide a spark as he did in Dallas. He would give us an impressive offense with Brooks, Artest, Scola/Landry, and Yao. Dampier would provide insurance incase of another injury for Yao. The Mavs could use Lowry to help their point guard situation. However, I don't think this trade is very likely because Cuban isn't likely to make his team worse for a chance to get better (he thinks they can still win a championship). Probability: 1.5/5
3.)a. Indiana trades Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy for TMAC and Brent Barry http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=p76zxw If Indiana is in dire financial straights, they might be willing to trade their two biggest contracts for cap room after next year. Troy Murphy is a good version of Brian Cook. He averaged 11.8 rpg and shot .450 from behind the arc. He could help spread the floor around Yao or help the team after Yao's next injury. Dunleavy has come into his own over the last two years and could be a good scorer off the bench for us. However, these are also their second and third best players, so it isn't that likely (unless the economy continues to drop). Probability: 1/5
OR
3.)b. Indiana trades Troy Murphy and TJ Ford for TMAC and Aaron Brooks http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qkz6qo TJ Ford returns home. While Aaron Brooks played well in the playoffs, we need to remember that he had a 12.7 PER (Player Efficiency Rating) which is really bad. Also, he is too small to finish consistently and often throws the ball away after driving. He isn't a very pure point guard and his assist to turnover ratio was about 2:1, which is below average for a point. If TJ Ford could get over his injury issues, he could be very important to our team. Either him of Lowry could start, and we would have Troy Murphy. I think this is a lot more likely than the first trade because they get something of real value. Probability: 4/5
4.) Milwaukee trades Michael Redd and Charlie Bell for TMAC http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qeudw5 Milwaukee is another team supposedly hurting financially, so they might be willing to trade for T-Mac. Michael Redd would give us a true SG who can shoot from anywhere. He would start for us, and either Ron-Ron or Shane could come off the bench. I really like this deal from our perspective because it gives us a lot of options for how we utilize our lineups. However, Milwaukee would lose their best player because of money, and I doubt they will do this. Probability: 1/5
5.) Phoenix trades Leandro Barbosa and Amare Stoudamire for TMAC, Aaron Brooks, and Carl Landry http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=lv4qwk The Suns owner was worth a lot of money on paper, but after the stock market tanked he lost most of it and needs to save money. Amare doesn't want to be in Phoenix anymore, but he is a top power forward and still young at only 26 years of age. He would give us the best front court in the NBA with Yao. The Suns would get a successor to Nash with Brooks and a poor man's Amare with Landry. I think this deal could happen because of the Suns need to save money. Probability: 4.5/5
6.) New Orleans trades Tyson Chandler and James Posey for TMAC http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qqqykl The Hornets were desperate to give up Tyson, so I'm sure they would be willing to deal him this summer. We would get Yao insurance with Chandler and another versatile wing defender/shooter in Posey. I think New Orleans' desperation makes this trade very likely. Probability: 4.5/5
7.) Orlando trades Rashard Lewis for TMAC http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pgtb52 The Rockets would finally get Rashard after passing on him 3 times in the draft and he would get to come home. If Orlando is hurting because of the economy, they might do this trade. Hedo Turkoglu will opt out of his contract after this season, and he will be in for a big pay raise. Rashard already has a big contract, so the Magic might try to move it. He would be one more weapon we could add to our arsenal. If Orlando beats Cleveland, this trade has ZERO chance of happening, but if they lose, who knows what will happen. Probability: 1/5
8.) Charlotte trades Gerald Wallace, Vlad Radmonivic, and Nazr Mohammed for TMAC and Joey Dorsey http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=oab2av We would take on Vlad and Nazr's bad contracts, but we would get Gerald Wallace who is very good. He plays with a lot of intensity and drives to the basket as hard as anyone in the league. Ron and him would team up to be one of the most intimidating pair of forwards in the league. The key is that Adelman could be creative with how he uses our weapons (Ron at the 4?) and we could try to exploit match-ups. I think Charlotte would be willing to do this since they might believe that TMAC could help them sell tickets. Probability: 3/5
9.) Cleveland trades Lebron James and Boobie Gibson for TMAC http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=q5su8n I can dream can't I? Probability: 0
I just want to trade T-Mac because he is a cancer to the team and doesn't help on the court anymore. I'm sure Darryl "Dork Elvis" Morrey will make a good deal with Tracy. And, this doesn't mean we release Von or Ron, since they are indispensable parts of our team.
Since the offseason for the Rockets has officially began, I've been spending some time on ESPN.com's NBA Trade Machine. Billy sent me a few trades earlier, but I'll let him post them. I was thinking about trading Tracy Mcgrady and his expiring contract for Kevin Martin, Andres Nocioni and his contract that nobody wants to pay, and some other filler, such as Beno Udrih. We would include Brooks in this trade if we had to (just listen to me before getting out the pitchforks and torches).
Now we would let go of Ron Artest and resign Von Wafer while also signing Ramon Sessions. For those of you who don't know, Sessions averaged 12 assists a game last April until being banished to the bench this year. He had some moments of brilliance (find them yourself) when he received playing time, but for the majority of the year his minutes were thrown around. He is a true point guard who can drive and dish, or in other words, another Kyle Lowry. Now I know that right now you're thinking two thoughts: "Why would we want another point guard who does exactly what our current backup point guard does?" and "Why the hell would be replace our starter with a clone of our backup?" I have three reasons:
1) Yes, he does do what Kyle Lowry does, but the thing is, he's better at it 2) If one Lowry is this good, imagine how dangerous two could be. 3) As much as I love Aaron Brooks, he's not going to become a superstar. He's very good now, and he'll probably get a little more controlled with experience, but it's going to take a while. We don't have time to wait for him, because let's face it, Yao's feet aren't getting any younger.
Yeah, Sessions would be in a fight with Lowry for the starting spot, but a little friendly competition never hurt anyone. Or any team, for that matter. And if we had any money leftover, we could always sign Big Baby. So here's our new lineup:
Starters PG - Ramon Sessions/Kyle Lowry SG - Kevin Martin SF - Shane Battier PF - Luis Scola C - Yao Ming
Bench PG - Ramon Sessions/Kyle Lowry/Beno Udrih SG - Von Wafer SF - Andres Nocioni PF - Carl Landry C - Chuck Hayes (or hopefully even Glen Davis)
Now how does that team not win the championship? Assuming we were able to get Davis, we would have 10 players who would have significant roles on most NBA teams, if not be starters. It'd be very difficult for all of it to happen, but just imagine if it did. On that note, I'll leave you to ponder our potential greatness and/or why I have nothing better to spend my time on than hypothetical situations for a team that's already done playing. And if you still want to, you're now welcome to round up the villagers and storm my house to commit whatever vicious crimes, misdeeds, and acts of violence that you so choose to.
Nor should I be. If there was one constant through all of the injuries, tough losses and elbows that made up our season and playoff run, it was the effort. There was never a night when you could say that the Rockets did not put in the most that they could. There were nights when you could say that our offense resembled a paraplegic trying to run a marathon (In other words, our efforts were futile. Also, yes, that was a cripple joke), there were nights when you could say that the only reason Ron Artest shot was to drive away every single fan and supporter he's ever had, there were nights when you could say that the Rockets were just not talented, athletic or big enough to win, but there were never, ever nights when you could say that we didn't play our hardest. And honestly, I don't care how bad a team does, ff they play with as much passion and pride as the Rockets did, I'll support them until the bitter, possibly embarrassing end. And I'm happy to say that that's exactly what I did. All the way up until the discouraging, 59 points-in-two-games end that we had at the hands of those damn Lakers. Which by the way is how I'm going to be referring to them for the rest of the playoffs. Those damn Lakers.
Series
In Game 7 and as a result in the entire series, the Lakers were the better team. Believe me, that wasn't easy to say. I spent a good 5 minutes typing, re-typing, wording and re-wording that sentence to find the least painful way to put it, and that was the best that I could come up with. The truth is that the Lakers have been better than Rockets all along, but there was no way in hell you were getting us to admit that while we were still playing them. Now that it's all over, I want to, no matter how grudingly it may be, congratulate the Lakers. In the NBA, upsets in the playoffs are hard to come by. In a seven game series, the team that deserves to win will usually win, and that's the way it should be. Despite all of their laziness, arrogance and downright hate-ability, the Lakers were the better team in this series. Now that that's out of the way, I'd also like to say that I've never seen a team with as poor a work ethic as the men in purple (hah), and I hope Denver hands their asses to them in the Western Conference Finals. If you think that's the Bitter Rockets Fan side of me speaking, you're damn right. As for Game 7, I think it's enough to say that I don't want to talk about it. I watched it, yelled at the television once in a while and ended up with my face in my hands wondering where we went wrong. The sad part is, I knew exactly where we went wrong. Our two best players were injured and we could not score the ball. And even though we faced obvious shortcomings and exceeded any reasonable expectations people might have had for us, the end of your season is always disappoiting. I know I said I didn't care what happened to the Rockets after Game 4, but the truth is I did. And no matter how stacked against you the odds are, losing the last game of the year always hurts. It hurts a little less because of what this team accomplished, but it hurts nonetheless. So what now? We take a few days to recover emotionally (done), analyze what happened (in progress), clean up our wounds and hope for next year. The problem is, that's what we do every year. And that's why a season in which we overachieve so much has to be put into context. Because as much as we want to say "If we pushed the best team in the Western Conference to seven games without our two best players" or "Imagine if we were just healthy for one year" we have to realize that that's what we say every year. What I'm trying to say is that before we start planning the 2010 championship parade, let's remember why we're sitting here reading/writing this instead of getting ready to play Denver. So mix little bit each of apprecation of a special season, understanding of what went wrong and cautious optimism and I think we'll be on the right track. Now about our season.
Season
For simplicity, I like to divide our season into three parts. First, there was the "We're Winning The Championship This Year Because Our Team Kicks Ass" section. That was followed by the "Oh We're F**ked" stretch, and then of course there was the season-ending "We Might Not Get That Far, But I Really, Really Like This Team" part.
Part One:
We started the year with the addition of Ron Artest and essentially Yao Ming to a 50-win team. In other words, the David Stern might as well have called of the season and handed us the trophy. There was no way Kobe, Scruffy and the rest of them were going to touch us. Our pre-season optimism soon faded away when we realized that Tracy Mcgrady was overweight and undermotivated (I know that's not a word), Ron Artest and Battier were injured, and that we just weren't winning that many games. Thus we entered phase two.
Part Two:
Tracy Mcgrady was playing every other game, Ron Artest wasn't sure when he was ever going to play and the Rockets looked lost. We didn't know what to do on offense, we weren't defending as well as we used to and we were looking at another disappoining season. Then Mcgrady announced that his season was over, meaning that our title hopes would be going to the same place the debris in his knee was: the toilet. On a side note, I don't think they actually discard of the waste from surgeries in the toilet that doesn't seem sanitary. Mcgrady's injury pushed us into the third and final division of our season.
Part Three:
Just when things were looking worse than Tracy Mcgrady's back/knee/shoulder/desire to actually be a winning NBA player, something clicked for the Rockets. In case you're wondering, that something was approximately 7'6" and had unworldly basketball talent. We started focusing on defense and running the offense through Yao. We traded Rafer Alston and handed the reigns over to Aaron Brooks and we were there. Suddenly we were kicking asses and taking names. But were mostly just winning basketball games. The city of Houston fell in love with these lovable overachievers and we won our first playoff series since the Dream was shakin'. And even though our season ended 7 games and one hairline fracture later, there isn't anybody who can honestly say they aren't proud of the way the Rockets carried themselves, stuck together and found a way to win this year.
Next Season
And as for next year, of course I'm excited. A new season, a new 82 games, a new playoff run, it's impossible not to be. But I'm also aware. Aware that we have suffered a major injury every single year since 2004. Aware of how dangerous it is to get too hopeful about this current Rockets team. Aware of how many times I've been let down before. Ideally, we find a way to get rid of Mcgrady for a star (Kevin Martin, anyone?), keep Artest and KEEP VON WAFER. But that's a topic for another day, and one that will surely be addressed on this very blog as the offseason continues. In the meantime, I'm sticking with the controlled optimism and hoping that we can find a way to put it together next year. Because, at the end of the day, no matter how many times we've said it before, one simple statement still holds true: If we were completely healthy for just one year, there's no way we wouldn't win the championship. On that note, I'm done talking about the Rockets. At least for the next hour to hour-and-a-half.
(Our) Future
As for the rest of the playoffs and, more importantly, the future of Bring Back Novak, the tea leaves look good. We're hoping to keep running throughout the offseason and into next season, so don't forget to keep checking. Visiting hourly would be ideal, but we're just as happy with daily or even weekly. We're going to try our best to keep you updated on the Rockets actions/inactions during the summer and what we think about what they are doing/not doing/should be doing, but we're also going to expand to cover the whole NBA for the rest of the playoffs. As soon as playoffs are over we're going to go back to mostly being exclusively for the Rockets, but as of now we're a blog about everything NBA-related. Starting tonight. With the Western Conference Finals.
Nuggets-Lakers
Just to quickly preview the Lakers-Nuggets series, I want to say a few things about the Nuggets. If there's one team more inspirational than the Rockets, it's the guys the Lakers are about to be playing. They've overcome testicular cancer, drug suspension, a lack of mental stability, an angry coach and a major mid-season trade to become, in my opinion, the best team in the Western Conference. To put that in perspective, that's like if Lance Armstrong, Robert Downey Jr. and Mariah Carey combined all their problems into one person and still got over them. Also, is there any backup combination more badass than Chris Andersen and J.R. Smith? I'm excited to watch these guys for another possible 14 games, and am going to be pulling for them. Not just because they are playing the Lakers and not just because their tattoo total is far and away the most in the NBA, but because if anyone can appreciate a team fighting through obstacles it's a Rockets fan. So, as usual, I've got two words for you. They're not nearly as heartfelt, permanent or important to me as the other two, but they still stand for a sentiment that I hope you share with me. At least for the next 1-3 weeks. Go Nuggets
That would not be a good way to describe my work ethic. The Game 7 and season recaps will be up soon. Just give me some time to overcome my depression.
After watching today's game, I have decided that Joey Crawford is the reason we lost. He screwed the Rockets and gave the game to the Lakers from the first play. He made us shoot 5-20 from the 3pt line and he made us turn the ball over 15 times. We would have won this game had it not been for the officiating of Joey Crawford. Actually, we shouldn't put to much blame on Joey, since David Stern was the one who ordered this result. Its all a conspiracy to get the Lakers into the Finals.
Ok, seriously this game was over from the beginning. I felt like we had lost as soon as they took an eight point lead. However, I'm not going to dwell on the game since this team went further than we could have expected from them after the loss of Yao. It was a fun series, and we should look forward to next year's run. This was my favorite Rockets team in a long time, and it was great how they fought back against adversity.
Look, there isn't much I can write about this afternoon's game. We've analyzed every part of the series that can be analyzed and now its time to see what happens. If we get good performances from our players, we win; if we don't, we lose. It is down to one, single-elimination game (who says the NCAA Tournament is more exciting than this?). We lost by 40 last time at Staples, but I wouldn't count us out for this game. A good start is vital for the Rockets today, and, hopefully, a good start will dishearten the Lakers and they will give up. Its happened before, it can happen again.
Today's ref is Joey Crawford. In case you don't know, Joey Crawford is the single worst official in the history of the NBA. I would prefer to have Tim Donaghy officiating today's game. Most likely, I will write a post about his horrendous officiating tomorrow. However, we can hope that his terrible calls will go against the Lakers.
If we lose today I will still be proud of the Rockets, but we should not be satisfied with going to a game 7, we should win. We will have a live blog going today.
That's all I'm ask of the Rockets tomorrow afternoon. Expecting a win might be pushing it and I am not going to risk tempting fate, so I'll settle for one simple request: give them a fight. A drawn out, exhausting, grind-it-out fight. Make them understand that we're not going to just go away. Let them know that we haven't gone through all kinds of bullshit, because that's the only way to describe what we've been through this year, so that we could fall flat on our faces against them. Show them that not everyone is going to politely step out of their way and watch while the NBA hands them the championship. Hit them first, hit them hard, and hit them again. And again. And again and again and again. And if they're able to take our best shot and move on, they deserve. If not, and we've seen that they can't, well have something special to talk about come Monday. With that out of the way, the most important Rockets game of the century is Sunday afternoon.
The Good
-The Rockets are confident. After a game like Game 5, that is huge. You can't let the memory something like that linger, and winning Game 6 took care of that for us. Now, we know that we can beat the Lakers, and we know that we can beat them at home. And we know that if Derek Fisher had played in Game 3 there's a good chance that this series would already be over.
-The Lakers are finally starting to doubt themselves. Even after blowing out the Rockets by 40 they found a way to lose by double digits two nights later. They're starting to understand that the Rockets are beating them because we are a good team, not because they are choosing not to try on certain nights, and it's starting to show. During a timeout in Game 6 Kobe grabbed Gasol's head and ruffled his hair while pushing his head down at the same time. I know what you're thinking: "That would never happen! I just watched 'Kobe Doin' Work' and he seems like a wonderful teammate. A real quality human being. He would never do something like that!" No. Not at all. Spike Lee just wants Kobe to Spike his Lee.
-We have nothing to lose. If we lose the game, we still won more games than anyone thought we would. We still already got out of the first round of the playoffs. We still showed the world how much of a little girl Kobe Bryant is. We can play freely, and that's always a good thing. The Lakers, on the other hand, are on the verge of crumbling under the weight of their own expectations, the expectations of the rest of the world and the fear the Kobe is going to put a brown bag over his head, go on a killing spree throught downtown Los Angeles and then kidnap Sasha Vujacic, leading to a King-Kong like showdown in which Kobe dangles Sasha off the roof of Staples Center while screaming at police to "Do it. Just do it." When you're playing a team that nobody expects you to lose to but that has already beaten you three times in the past two weeks, you're setting yourself up for trouble.
The Bad
-Joey Crawford is the head referee for game 7. Yes, the same Joey Crawford who asked Tim Duncan, Tim "I love everyone in the whole wide world" Duncan, if he wanted to fight. In other words, the NBA just told the entire greater Houston area to light itself on fire.
-The last time we played the Lakers in Los Angeles, we lost by 40. And even though it's not going to happen in Game 7, the point is that they were able to do it once, which means that they have the potential to do it again.
-Kobe Bryant is going to be mad. Which is bad for us, his teammates, and any unsuspecting girl within 3 miles of Los Angeles. This doesn't need any further explanation, we all know what Kobe can do. Let's just hope he doesn't do it.
The Ugly
Any game that has the possibility of making Yao this sad is a game I don't want to see
What Has To Happen
-Scola and Landry need to show up. Not just one of them, not just the other. Both of them need to play like they did in Game 6 for the Rockets to win. In a related sidenote, a nickname for Landry and Scola is in order. I tried to think of a few but I kept going back to "Two Forwards One Trophy," and that was disgusting.
-Ron Artest needs to realize that the Rockets are a better team when he's actually, you know, being a part of the team. And that means not dribbling the ball for 11 seconds and then taking a shot that actually could only be harder if he was trying to make the face that Yao is making above while shooting the ball.
-Aaron Brooks has to be aggressive. Like it or not, he's the best offensive player on our team when he's going. Yes, the best scorer on the Rockets is a 5-11, 160 pound, second year player who wears red suits and bowties to postgame press conferences. Things like this are why even playing in a Game 7 against the Lakers is an accomplishment.
The Point
This is it. A season's worth of injuries, trials, and unexpected wins comes down to one final game in Los Angeles. I know I said I don't care about whether or not we win another game after Game 4, but I lied. I want to win this game. Not just because I love the Rockets, not just because I never want to see Kobe Bryant win another NBA Championship, but because of how special it would be if the Rockets won Game 7. The Rockets and Lakers are mirror images of each other. For everything that's wrong with them, something is right with us. We suffer through injuries and losses every year while they get Pau Gasol handed to them halfway through the season. We play hard every single night in order to have a chance at winning, they coast through half of their games and take their talent for granted. Our fans actually know who's on our team, the fans at Staples Center wonder why stuff like this keeps happening. Our point guards are real NBA players, they have Derek Fisher and Frodo. What I'm trying to say is that I want to win Game 7 because we deserve it. Because if there's one team that should beat the Lakers, it's us. Because after going through the usual injuries and surgeries, we decided not to just let our season die. Because we kept fighting when, in all honesty, we should have stopped. Which is why, before the usual two, I've got three words for you. Give them hell. And of course, right now more than ever before: Go Rockets.
Here is the second edition of post-game grades for the Rockets.
Aaron Brooks A : He was great as a scorer once again, and I feel like he has really responded well to the playoffs and Yao's injury specifically. This would be an A+, but he did have 4 turnovers. I feel like our turnovers have been a crucial aspect of each game, and no one has picked up on it yet. Overall, this was a spectacular game for Brooks.
Shane Battier B+ : Yeah, he was only 2-8, but any offense you get from him is acceptable. The important thing was his defense on Kobe (11-27). At the same time however, Kobe got to the line 10 times and has gotten in the paint more consistently in the past few games. Instead of settling for contested jumpers, he has started taking it to the hole where he is effective. Shane has done a good job, but we need him to show up big on sunday.
Ron Artest C: 3 turnovers and only 6-17 from the field (does he take 17 shots every game? I feel like he does). Ron was not that good but will need to be if we want to win this game 7.
Luis Scola A+ : He was phenomenal. I have been hard on him all series because the Lakers' length has bothered him and he has played bad, but last night he played like Round 1 Scola. If he plays well again on Sunday, we will win this series. Again, we will win this series.
Chuck Hayes A : He shot 100% (ok only 1-1), and stayed out of foul trouble. It is hard to see his value to this team in the box score, but you can see his effect in the final score. We lost Game 5 when he was in foul trouble and Cook played. We dominated Games 4 and 6 when he was on the court. An added bonus of his play is that we don't have to see Cook disgrace the game of basketball.
Carl Landry A+ : Another great performance for Landry. He was slamming down dunks and finishing all around the basket. He has been an integral part of our success this series. Just like Chuckwagon, he shot 100% (however, this was on 6 shots), and combined with Scola to score 39 points from the power forward position.
Kyle Lowry C+ : I think this is Adelman's fault, not Lowry's. He cannot play well with Aaron Brooks. They don't complement each other well, and the offense comes to a screeching halt when they play together. Alone, they are effective, but together, they suck.
Von Wafer A : His exile continues. Von did all he could during his brief 5 minutes of playing time, hitting a three and a mid-range jumper. If Adelman continues to let his grudge against Wafer get in the way of playing him, he will leave as a free agent. On a night when Shane and Ron's shots were off, we needed his sweet stroke. We got lucky that Carl, Luis, and Aaron played so well.
Rick Adelman A- : Aside from the two point guard scheme and not playing Von Wafer, I think Adelman coached well last night. He is a calming influence on the team.
Not me. I'm pleasantly surprised, but not stunned. You can never be stunned with these guys. When I say stunned I'm referring to the Lakers. And the media. And the rest of the world for that matter. But especially the Lakers. That means you Kobe. He'll bitch a little about the refereeing, yell at his teammates, sulk to the media, but the reality is that he didn't think this would happen again. One more time, him and the rest of the light bulbs (they turn it on and off, it's a pun) underestimated the Rockets and ended up getting embarrassed, smacked around and most importantly, beaten. And you can bet your ass that they're stunned.
The Good
-We won. They lost. Our season continues. The beat goes on. The wheels keep turning. No matter how many different ways there are to say it, the point is simple. We get to play one more game in the playoffs. And that's a good thing.
-Luis Scola finally showed up. As happy as I am about this, I'm still wondering why it took so long to finally happen. If you get drafted because you play a certain way, become a starter on a playoff team because you play a certain way and your team wins a playoff series because you play a certain way, why would you ever, ever stop playing that way? I'm going to include that Carl Landry also played a great game in here because they are inseparable in my mind. They're like Pinky and the Brain. Rob and Big. Starsky and Hutch. Kobe and absolutely nobody.
-The Rockets defense had another amazing night. Kobe took 27 shots and made 11 of them, which means we did very, very well. Battier played his usual defense on Kobe, Artest guarded him with his usual whatever-the-hell-Artest-does-things-with and Kobe looked mad all night long. I understand that he has a natural anger to him, but it looked a little worse yesterday. Or at least that's what I'd like to think.
The Bad
-The last time we had an inspiring, unexpected win at home, we lost the next game by 40. Because at the end of the day, when both teams put in the same amount of effort for all 48 minutes, the Lakers are a whole lot better than us. So we're hoping they don't come out as ticked off as they were in Game 5.Which, for the record, I don't think they will. Game 5 is not something that happens twice in a year, let alone in a week.
-Kobe is playing much more aggressively and is having an easier time getting to the basket. Without China's most talented 90 inches in the lane to stop him, Kobe was able to get to the basket and to the free throw line. This can't happen if we want to have a shot at Game 7.
-We let the Lakers back into the game in the third quarter. Unlike in Game 4, we allowed Los Angeles to get within striking distance after building a huge lead. It didn't hurt us last night, but runs like that are killer in close games on the road. Which, by the way, is what we're going to be playing in on Sunday.
We had a few more nits I could pick on, but at the end of the day, we won the game. And for the most part, we won it in dominating fashion, so I don't see the need to harp on what we did wrong for too long.
The Ugly
Billy told me not to use the blind people jokes anymore, so I'm boycotting this section for a little while. If it means anything, I would have used this picture and the caption would have read "Apologies to Jordan Farmar for leaving him out of yesterday's 'Clash of the Cochleas' between DJ Mbenga and Brian Cook.
What Happened
-For the third game in a row, the Lakers did not have an answer for Aaron Brooks. For the second time in those three games, the Rockets found a way to use that to our advantage. Brooks had 26 points, got to any spot on the floor at will and pushed Derek Fisher one step closer to finally giving up and retiring.
-The Rockets attacked the Lakers early and the Lakers collapsed. Sure, they made a half-hearted run in the third quarter, but for most of the game the Rockets did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. We played with more intensity and aggression, and we all know what the Lakers do when teams play them tough. They lose, in case you didn't
-Odom, Bynum and Gasol were outplayed. The rest of the the Lakers bench (besides Farmar) played poorly. Derek Fisher just played. All of these combined turned the Lakers into the Stand Around and Watch Kobe-ers, and with Kobe having an off night, that wasn't going to cut it. Not against the Rockets.
The Point
Another game, another win, another one-sided fight. And we fough. All night long. Because that's what we do. Because that's who we are. A bunch of fighters. A bunch of scrappers. A bunch of tooth and nail, never-give-an-inch players who will take every punch and throw one right back. A bunch of guys who are just too stubborn to understand that this series is supposed to be over and that the Lakers are supposed to be waiting for the next round to start. For at least one more game, a bunch of winners. It defies all logic, and that's what makes it so beautiful. Nobody understands how the Rockets can ever be better than the Lakers when then Lakers are, for lack of any other way of saying it, much, much better than the Rockets. We try to analyze the games, the reasons we keep winning, what the Lakers could possibly be doing wrong and we all arrive at the same conclusion. It just doesn't make sense. And that's when you get to the point where all you can do is look at this team, throw your hands up in confusion and smile. The point at which you sit back, enjoy the ride and hope that it never ends. The point I've reached with the Rockets.
Nothing needs to be said about this game. We all know the implications. We all know what's on the line. We all know how much this means to the Lakers, and we know how much more it means to us. We all understand what winning this game, and, unfortunately, what losing it would mean. We all understand what everyone thinks our chances are, we also understand that our actual chances are much better than that. We all want to win tonight. We all want to play one more game. We all want this miraculous, odds-defying, counterintuitive, sometimes even confusing and undeniably special run to continue. And that alone is saying enough about Game 6. But we have a few hours until 8:30, so I'm going to say more. A lot more. A hell of a lot more. Because we have a game tonight. Which also means we have a game to preview. To rephrase. We have an elimination game to preview.
The Good
-Itcan't get much worse than it did on Tuesday night. It might come close. In fact, it might get pretty damn close, but it won't be worse. And that's always something to take solace in. Because if things aren't getting worse, that usually means they're getting better. We will not have another performance like that on the defensive end. Our defense on Tueday night had more holes than Magic Johnson has white blood cells. Which isn't really saying much, but still. And yes, that was another HIV joke. Our offense, as problematic as it is, will improve. Even though we have our fair share of struggles scoring the ball, we'll shoot better than 5-29 from three, which should automatically improve our scoring.
-We're at home. Which, despite what you say about the Staples Center crowd, (they're dead, it's like there's nobody even at the game, I don't think they actually want to be here but it's an easy way to get on TV, Jack Nicholson has looked over at that 25 year old woman for the third time in 2 minutes and it's starting to make me uncomfortable, things like that) playing at home is always better than playing on the road. Playing at home means it's easier to work up that frantic energy that we are going to need to beat the Lakers, and that's a plus.
-The Lakers still have no answer for Aaron Brooks. He had a tougher time on Tuesday because of Gasol and Bynum clogging the lane, but in the second half he looked more like his usual, speedy, wind-up car self. The Lakers, and every other NBA team for that matter, have nobody quick enough to stay in front of him. When the other team has nobody that can guard you, that's usually a good thing for your team. What's not good for your team is when you decide to tell the oher team that they can't guard you again and again and again and again. I'm talking to you here Kobe. Enough with the "You can't stop me" stuff with Shane. We know you're good, but you also have the most unfairly talented team in the NBA behind you and are still struggling to beat a depleted, significantly less-gifted Rockets team.
-The worst, worst, worst case scenario is that we lose tonight. Which, like anything else, has a good side to it. Losing means less of Odom's nose, less of Vujacic's hair, less of the massive Pubic-Hair Beard/Fungus known as Pau Gasol (which I've actually come to enjoy), less of Andrew Bynum's towel waving (I can still make fun of him all I want. All he did in Game 5 was realize that since he is an NBA player who also happens to be taller than everyone else on the court, he should actually have a positive impact on the game) and less of Sasha and Shannon's Fellowship of Female Athletes, also known as the Lakers' bench. And no more Lakers means no more Kobe. Which means the female population of Houston can stop holding their collective breath. In case this needs clarifying, that was a reference to his sexual assualt case. As you can see, I'm pulling out all the stops tonight. It might be another five months before I can make these jokes again.
Side note: This has nothing to do with anything, but that new Jack in the Box commercial just came on. It's the commercial in which the guy asks for 99 tacos for two cents, and I have one question: is there any way this guy isn't a stoner? He sees a little pixie-version of Jack who he talks to, laughs like he's been hit in the head with an elbow from Kobe, and can't read the damn sign in the drive-through line. Which makes you wonder if Jack in the Box really had no other good ideas for a commercial besides a clip of a man in a car pretending to be under the influence that probably took 15 minutes to write, direct, film, produce and whatever the hell else they do to movies. But that's neither here nor there, so I'll stop now.
The Bad
-In case anyone needs to review, we lost by 40 the last time we played these guys. Which means that on some nights, they can be a lot better than us. A whole lot better than us. They dismantled us once, which means there's the chance they can do it again. In other words, the Lakers are still a very, very dangerous basketball team.
-Who knows what kind of psychological effects Game 5 had on the Rockets. I'm mentally scarred myself and all I did was watch the game, so I don't even want to think about how the players feel. Losing like that can be deflating. It can be will-breaking. In can be spirit-crushing. It can be a lot other things that involve some combination of a synonym for hope, a dash, and synonym for destroying.
-Ron Artest has had two "Hey, Yao, Mcgrady and I are the three best players on this team. Mcgrady is out, and now Yao is out. Which means...I'm the best player we have left?" games in a row, which is a bad sign. He needs to understand that we need him to play within the offense and maintain the flow of the game for us to have a chance.
-There's a small chance that Brian Cook might actually touch the floor. Which should never be possible in an NBA basketball game. Unless DJ Mbenga is also playing.
The Ugly
A battle between DJ Mbenga's (L) and Brian Cook's (R) ears would be a treat for NBA fans all over the world, but punishment for anyone with vision. Things just keep getting better and better for those damn blind people.
What Has to Happen
-This may seem like I'm taking the easy way out, but the Rockets' offense needs to show up. As I've said on multiple occasions before, our offense is our "go-to-guy" in the attempt at pregnancy that is a basketball game. So the Little Rocket (I like this one) needs to come up big.
-Aaron Brooks needs to be on fire from the beginning. And Luis Scola needs to play like he played from November-April, not like he has in the playoffs. Brooks needs to continue to get in the paint and run circles around the Lakers' big men and Scola needs to start shooting his midrange jumper before I start to shoot it for him. I'm not sure what that threat exactly meant, but it sounded manly and I just went with it. But for us to have a shot tonight, both Scola and Brooks need to have big games.
-The energy that has become as much a part of the Rockets' game as anything has to be present from the very beginning. Somehow, some way, the Rockets need to get motivated for Game 6, and that means forgetting about Game 5. In order for us to play our best tonight, we are going to have to move past Tuesday night. Once we get it out of our heads, we should be able to play the hustling, disrupting, frustrating defense that we're used to playing, and that effort should carry over to the offensive end.
The Point
We win tonight, we get another chance. We lose, our offseason begins. It doesn't get any simpler than that. And if nothing else, I want the Rockets to win so that I don't have to sit around for another month watching other teams play basketball. But there's plenty else. For starters, I really don't like the Lakers. If they're going to win, I want us to make sure we make it as hard as we can on them. And of course, I really, really like the Rockets. More than I dislike the Lakers. And even though it happens for 29 out of the NBA's 30 teams, watching your season end on a loss is always painful. You dwell on it, wonder what could have changed, and in our case, wonder why injuries always strike us at the worst possible time. And I would like to postpone that feeling for as long as I possibly can. On a lighter note, nothing is more exciting than an underdog beating a heavy favorite multiple times. If it happens once, it's a wake up call for the favorite. If it happens twice, the favorite has some concentration issues. If it happens three times, maybe the underdog isn't as much of an underdog as we all thought. I want nothing more than for us to push the Lakers one more time, to make them question their team, coaching, and heart once again. To leave the rest of the world asking each other what the hell just happened. To make me proud to love this team, even if it's for the last time this year. Now that that's all out of the way, I'll leave you with this. It's not much. It's actually just two words. But those two words can be oh-so powerful when you realize how much thought, emotion, influence, and meaning they have. When you realize that 18,000 people are going to be saying those words with you tonight. When you realize that deep down, there's no better, simpler way to explain how you feel. You probably already know what those two words are, which means you probably already know that I'm going to say them anyway. Go Rockets
Before we got Ron Artest, I used to laugh about him asking for time off to promote his rap album. But now, Im a huge fan. Here are some of his greatest hits followed up with Kobe's feeble attempt to rap. (Explicit)
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