True. Ultimately, I think both of these cases come down to a rule that sounds fine when crafted but ultimately doesn’t quite work in the real world. It’s hard to know when one of those exists until it actually happens and those events are so rare that some of them may never become issues.
We can all agree on one thing, the NBA will be a much saner but probably more boring place without Isiah Thomas to kick around.
To get a reply in on this point now that I’m home from work – last night was a story of two halves with the officiating (that post was from halftime, as can be seen by the fact that Rondo was still relevant). It’s not always as simple as looking at the free throw numbers… but last night it kinda was. In the first half, they were calling every little ticky tack defensive foul (case in point is probably where they gave the flagrant on Cassell - on a play where he got the ball with his initial swipe and THEN picked up some shoulder on the follow through, and which was pretty clearly your run of the mill playoff level foul). LeBron averaged 10 free throws a game in the regular season - he shot ten in the FIRST HALF last night. In the second half, you’d have had to throw someone to the ground to get a call, and even then, it might have been a charge on them. Plus, they called traveling multiple times. It was WEIRD!
And, of course, as soon as it became apparent that the second half was “anything goes”, the teams just got that much more physical. The second half of that game might have been the most non-called slugfest that I’ve seen since Spurs-Pistons.
On the subject of Pierce, LeBron, even Ray Allen, and defense… well, the defense on each of these guys was excellent, AND these guys missed a bunch of shots. LeBron is not a very good three point shooter (career .324, this year .315), so any time he settles for a three, that either him being sort of silly or the defense winning that posession. A bunch of the layups were just plain misses, but none of them were really “easy” layups. Agreed, on a normal LeBron night he makes a bunch of those… but I still don’t think he hits his season FG% of 48.4 or 30 points with the D he was seeing.
The C’s were putting either Pierce or Posey on him straight up, with doubles off of all screens and rotations when it even LOOKED like the primary guy was in trouble. I looked at the box score this morning and was shocked Ilgauskas was only 8-18, because I swear every time I turned around he was shooting a WIDE OPEN shot since his guy had rotated to LeBron (and it seemed like most of them were going in). Given the immense amount of attention the C’s were paying to LeBron, and how many of the shots were fairly open, the rest of that team HAS to shoot better than 21-57.
Pierce just never got into the rhythm of the game - he got two quick fouls and had to come out very early, so Garnett and Rondo took over the rest of the first half. In the second, Pierce forced a couple of shots, missed them, and then seemed to dedicate his efforts almost exclusively to D from there on out.
Allen just looked uncomfortable. He has in the past several games. He was in a MAJOR groove for the second half of the regular season - hitting every open three, doing anything he wanted on offense, etc etc. Atlanta exposed his lack of athleticism pretty badly at times, and it almost looked last night like he wasn’t that confident in anything he was doing.
Kwame is a curse. Instead of taking him, the Wizards could have drafted Gasol or traded the pick for Elton Brand. Taken after Kwame were Gerald Wallace, Richard Jefferson and Tony Parker. But the Lakers gave them Caron Butler to get him (thank you basketball gods).
Kwame is a curse - he ate up an ungoldy amount of money for the Lakers - threw a cake or two and not much else. But the Lakers got Gasol for him.
I wonder what the Grizzlies will get for his salary cap room? An all-star if the pattern holds.
Spurs are surprising to me. I want to fast forward if this plays out like I think (famous last words) I look forward to the Piston/Celtics series and the Laker/NO series - I expect those to be better than the Championship series
I actuall feel bad for Kwame- its not his fault he was so overrated by scouts, and his being the first pick was the first of many indicators that Michael Jordan sucks as a front office person.
Chris Wallace wants everyone to think that Gasol’s cap room is going to land them a superstar, but in reality, what star is going to want to come and play for a team like the Grizzlies in Memphis? They’ll end up overspending on someone like Darko Milicic or Brian Cardinal again when they can’t land a star, but a solid player in the draft to go along with Miller, Gay and Conley will make them better, but in the West they won’t come close to the playoffs.
Wait for him to have a strong season and Isiah will overpa-…er…
…Well, looks like you’re stuck unless the Clippers want him.
First Team:
**
G- Chris Paul, NOH
G- Kobe Bryant, LAL
F- LeBron James, CLE
F- Kevin Garnett, BOS
C- Dwight Howard, ORL**
As voted by a panel of NBA sportswriters and broadcasters.
I’ve often said that the biggest threat to baseball is the people who run it. In a similar vein, I think basketball’s biggest problem is the people who report on it. Most of the local radio and TV play-by-play cats seem to be pretty good, but I think the print media coverage sucks, with very few exceptions. That said- I think they got it right with these selections. I really can’t argue with any of these choices (and I’m pleasantly surprised that Dirk Nowitzki didn’t somehow slither his way onto the 1st team). If it were me, I may have put Pau Gasol on the 3rd team at center instead of Yao Ming, but I’m biased.
I’ve got a new rule. . .if you’re on TV, you’re not allowed to gush about CP3 unless you’ve been on him since at least January, and you voted for him for MVP.
Since the all-star break, he’s averaged like 25 & 13 with about 2 TOs per game, and everyone who follows the NBA knows he’s a god, and should have been MVP. And, that this has been coming since he was at Wake.
I so sick of these guys on SportsCenter, and Around The Horn who seemed to just realize who Chris Paul was after their pick for Dallas to win round 1 – because of “experience” :rolleyes: – didn’t exactly pan out.
Right. If WITNESS did to Songaila what Songaila did to WITNESS in the Wizards series, try to tell me WITNESS gets suspended for a game. I need a good chuckle.
Still, I expect the borderline stuff to go to the Cavs when it gets back to Cleveland, and you can feel a 38 coming from LeBron. The question is whether Cavs can still win such a game. If Pavlovic and Szerbiak can go 40%+ from 3-land, and Z can give Cleveland 15+, Celts are in trouble. But, that’s a lot to ask for, especially in two straight games. Celts should be able to take 1 in Cleveland, and that makes the series over.
I’m not counting Orlando out right now. They’re obviously going to have to steal one on the road, but Philadelphia won one in Detroit and Magic were close in game 2. If Billups is hurt, that’s going to really sting.
And, I’m looking for Utah to tie this thing up before it heads back to LA. Best home record in the NBA.
The only reason Cleveland got to where they got last time was because their guard play stepped it up. Gibson and Pavlovic actually hit shots.
Don’t forget their other long-range sharpshooting guard- Zydrunas Ilgauskus 
I would make the case that 3rd Team, and perhaps 2nd Team spot should have been found for Antwan Jamison.
Only four players in the league averaged 20+ points and 10+ rebounds this season (Howard 1st Team AllNBA, Boozer 2ndTeamALLNBA, Al Jefferson No AllNBA Team on a T-2nd Worst NBA Season for a Team) and Antawn Jamison (No ALLNBA Team best player on the 5th Seed in the East and winner of 2 playoff games)… I wrote this not to claim it was the GREATEST INJUSTICE OF ALL TIMETM but meh - It doesn’t sit right with me.
squints He’s a mighty big guard…ain’t he?
So it seems that home field advantage is substantial in basketball. Why is that? In football there’s at least one concrete reason you can point to - the noise interferes with offensive playcalling.
I don’t think so, on the balance. I believe the New York Times did a story on this recently and found that football has the largest advantage - and in basketball I think the home team wins less than 55 percent of the time.
So - Timmy has the flu and Manu has a bad wheel for the first two games. Whoops they start to feel better - Spurs win. Series is over today. NO win and they clinch at home. Spurs win and NO goes home with a big ol buncha choke - Spurs in 6. Feel a whole lotta Duncan coming on today.
Go Spurs Go
Am I getting a different television feed than everyone else, or have the Lakers just gotten two calls in a row where Kobe, and then Fisher, basically stiff armed the guys defending them?
This is absolutely surreal.
'Dem Bad Boys from Detroit Drop-The-Rock City are the first team to advance to the Conference Finals after polishing off the tough but flawed Orlando Magic. I was especially impressed with how the other Piston players stepped up in the absence of Chauncey Billups. Dwight Howard, as good as he is, seems to need a little work on his offensive moves from more than two feet from the basket. He also needs to work on his free throws.
In other news, the NBA All-Rookie Team was announced. The Hawks Al Horford was the only unanimous selection, while Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant finished second in the voting. The NBA’s 30 head coaches selected this team. Now, I’m not going to tell you which coach didn’t vote for Kevin Durant, but his initials are Mike Woodson.
Defensive Player of the Year Kevin Garnett and Kobe “all he can do is shoot!” Bryant finished tied for the most votes on the NBA All-Defensive Team. Marcus Camby makes the team at center. Bruce Bowen and the Big Fundamental, both from the Spurs, round out the first team. I’ve been trying to tell members of the “all they can do is shoot!” crowd that the best players these days take a lot of pride in their defensive capabilities, a trait which is a positive carryover from the Jordan Era. Sadly, they happen to watch a game where Carmelo Anthony stands motionless while his man whizzes past him for a lay-up, and the struggle continues. As for the Team selections, maybe, just maybe, an argument can be made for Shane Battier making 1st Team over Tim Duncan, based solely on season-long consistency.
Two big game five matchups tonight! The Cavs head back to TD Banknorth Garden, where the Southies are stocking up on billyclubs and blackjacks. Can any of Lebron’s teammates step up and be his wingman? The Lakers await the annoyingly resiliant Utah Jazz. How’s Kobe’s back injury? If Carlos Boozer shows up, this could be one hell of a game.
A friend of mine from my college days played for the school basketball team. Had a pretty good game in an upset win over Maryland in the NCAA Tournament. He told me that every basketball court has a different feel to it. The amount of “spring” or “give” in the court can, and often does, affect one’s dribble and jump shot. He felt that these conditions primarily impacted the guards, and can make it hard for a team to get in its rhythm , particularly early in the game. Makes sense to me, particularly if a team is playing on that G*ddamned parquet floor up in Boston.
My friend also said a hostile crowd can really put the screws on some players. Not so much in free throw shooting, but in offensive decision making. If a player is a half-second slow on passing, or making a post move, or shooting an open shot, chances are the crowd has gotten to him/her.