Remember the old SNL skit, "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey"? Well, this is something like that. Only worse.
Eastern Conference Finals:
-The Pistons, as I've said before, could be finished. The theory isn't exactly groundbreaking, but when you get a group of players who have played three full seasons without injuries AND have made a deep run into the playoffs each year, eventually they will run out of steam and out of luck. That's just how it is, that's how it's always been. Think '89 Lakers or '87 Celtics. Things just catch up with you. Things have certainly caught up with Detroit, the players and the coaches.
-With Dwayne Wade's acrobatic, amazing and burned into playoff lore lay-up yesterday, the Pistons are being fit for a playoff toe-tag faster than Marty McFly was when facing a possible duel with Mad Dog Tannen in Back to the Future III.
-That play was indicative of what's wrong with Detroit this post-season. Wade flipped the switch; the Heat have flipped the switch in the Eastern Conference Finals-but the Pistons have stood by and watched, mostly. Had this been 2004 or even 2005, somebody on the Pistons would have wrapped up Wade's arms and prevented the shot from being taken. Somebody would have taken him to the floor. Hard.
-Everyone says not to write off the Detroit Pistons; that they love it when their backs are firmly against the walls and the odds are worse than Pitt-Aniston reconciliation. Well, wish granted. Down 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals against a team that has had it in for you for the past twelve months is pretty bad odds. Of the last 43 teams to be down 3 games to 1 in the Conference Finals, only three have came back to win the series.
-Don't blame Flip Saunders for this-as it has been rumored that the Pistons are. (Wasn't that the rumor with this group and Rick Carlisle for awhile? And for a short time last year, Larry Brown? Maybe it's the players, after all.) For all that the Pistons are and claim to be, they sure throw their coach under the bus pretty easily. No, the "Demise of Detroit" is simple logic. Time takes its toll in the NBA, through injuries and fatigue, and there's nothing they can do about it.
In honor of the late, legendary, "That Guy" actor club, I can't help but wonder if Detroit would be fairing better under the tutelage of Paul Gleason. He could have even coached the Pistons as his character in The Breakfast Club, Principal Vernon.
Try and imagine his post game press conferences: "Mess with the bull, you get the horns." Or "I told them the next time I have to call a time-out, I'm crackin' skulls." Or simply imagine Vernon giving a pre-game speech: "You ought to spend a little more time trying to win the game and this series and a little less time worry about trying to impress people." Paul Gleason, you will be missed.
-Yes, these are the things that I think about. All. Day. Long.
-Is it me, or have the Pistons become a mini-version of the Spurs and are beginning to argue and bemoan every call that isn't in their favor?
Western Conference Finals--If Mark Cuban can turn around the Mavericks with his money and enthusiasm, why not the Cubs?
-Sticking with the baseball thing for a second, in baseball, they always say good pitching always beats good hitting. Is that what we're seeing in the Western Conference Finals? From the Dallas Mavericks, of all teams?
The Mavs got burned in Game 1 by 32 fast-break points from Nash and the Suns up-tempo game. They preached defense and stopping the Suns in transition before Game 2. Since that time, they've allowed 25 fast-break points combined in Games 2 & 3 (and just four-4!-in Game 3). Neither team scored a 100 in the Game 3, which is always to the advantage of whoever the Suns are playing. Seems like Phoenix has have run into a wall-good defense.
-The MVP, Steve Nash, has gently called out his teammates, saying they need to show more fight and have "been a little too passive" at times. I don't think it's long before his teammates start fighting back and asking for a piece of the MVP Trophy. After all, they helped him win, and now he's calling them out?
--Hard to believe, but Raja Bell really could be the key to the series for the Suns. Say that again, slowly. Raja Bell.
-Two words (in the voice of Christopher Walken): "More Barbosa".
Back later this week with NGS II Finalist Assignment #2...
You know that annoying ride at Disney World, where all the little mechanical children sing "It's a small world" over and over, until you get off the ride and it's stuck in your head for two days?
Well, that's Barry Bonds right now, annoyingly stuck in my head. Just when I think he's out of sight and out of mind, suddenly, there he is, like the aforementioned song. That concept, in itself is why Bonds has also finally given me reason to acknowledge his greatness, tip my cap, stand and applaud.
It isn't because he will pass Babe Ruth. It isn't because I'm overly compelled to believe he knowingly didn't take steroids. It isn't because of him overcoming adversity, race issues or Father Time.
It is because of the stark realization that Barry Bonds is one of the greatest entertainers of all-time. He's changed the face of sports, entertainment, television and dramatic theater. Bonds is smart, crafty and about ten steps ahead of everyone else.
And I'm a fool because it took me so long to figure it out.
Forget baseball, forget records. Forget your own personal feelings on the man and whether he did or didn't cheat. Focus simply on the idea that we follow the man's every single move, day after day, month after month.
What we're witnessing is exactly what Barry wants us to see. It's all a part of the show-right down to the things he can't even control.
To understand this, we must understand Barry. An enigma of a personality and a baseball player, Bonds is anything but transparent. But if there is one thing we can be certain of throughout his baseball career, it is this: Barry Bonds wants to be remembered. He wants to be a legend-and it doesn't matter how that happens.
It is that truth-the human desire of wanting to be remembered-that has motivated Barry Bonds for the past decade.
Books say that Bonds was upset that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were breaking records by using steroids, so to prove he was better on or off the juice, Barry did it too. Rumors say Barry was a poor teammate in college and in the pros. Reporters have said Bonds is a jerk in the clubhouse.
Has Barry ever really confirmed or denied anything? No, he hasn't-and it doesn't matter whether any of it is true or not, because we're missing the point.
By not knowing anything, by not knowing what to believe, we become more and more intrigued. And the intrigue feeds our desire as sports fans and humans to know and to believe. It doesn't matter what we believe or know, as long as it's something.
Barry Bonds knows this-he captures us by using the natural human desire of wanting to know.
Think about it: what better way to sway and manipulate the opinions of the people who dislike you than by doing a reality show? Because at the end of last season, it didn't matter what the truth was-if Barry had taken steroids or not, if he would break the record, if he really was as bad as the reporters made him sound-public opinion was all that mattered. And public opinion is hard to change.
Some may never watch, but most will. Because we can't not watch, we have a compulsive need to. The more confused and uncertain we are, the more we watch, the more we try and find little pieces of the Bonds puzzle in order to form our truth of him.
All the time between 713 and 714 did was fan the flames and pique our interest. When will it happen?!? Where will it happen?!? How will fans react?!? How will Barry react?!? Will baseball celebrate?!?
It's just part of the show. Though 'Bonds on Bonds' is on a "break" from filming, I fully expect Bonds to come up with a new way to hold our attention. Even when we're not paying attention to Bonds or his show, we're still paying attention to the story.
Bonds is the ultimate drama in sports and has a sweeps period every week. Who needs an end of the season cliffhanger like The O.C., The Office or 24? We've got the equivalent of a season finale practically every day with Bonds.
Bonds is the legend he always wanted to be. Maybe not in the way he wanted-or we wanted-but he transcends baseball and sports. Few have ever done that. He's polarizing and engaging; despised and cheered.
And he's not going away anytime soon. Like the Disney ride, you experience Bonds once and it stays with you for life, which is exactly what he wanted all along.
It's a Bonds world, after all.
After a wild weekend, which saw my wife and I buy our first home, my newborn daughter baptized, followed by Monday's announcement and the subsequent turn of events in NGS II, I haven't had time to collect my thoughts and put out an actual post about the NBA Playoffs.
In the spirit of that, here's a bunch of things I've been collecting on an internal notepad the past few days and need to get them out. I'm fearful that if I don't, I'm going to turn into a sports version of Ashton Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect.
Mavs-Spurs
-It was clear to from the first quarter of the Mavs-Spurs game who was should win. You just never know with the officiating these days if the right team will win. Don't get me wrong, had the Spurs won, they would have semi-deserved it with that amazing run in the third and fourth quarter, but I was beginning to believe that David Stern, seated just rows away from Mark Cuban, really did have it in for him. Stern almost smiled at times (at least it seemed that way on TV) as the Spurs made their run back from 20 down. Cuban was glaring out the corner of his eye in Stern's direction. Can we get a Stern-Cuban match as the main event at Wrestle Mania next year?
-Is there anyone who gets more calls, but complains more in big spots than Tim Duncan? Where were the fouls that they called on Dampier and Van Horn? Even when TNT was bold enough to show the replays, they weren't there. The call on Van Horn in the 4th quarter, where his hands are straight up and Duncan moves into him is incredible. I must have rewound TiVo five times. I was speechless (probably because my wife, four year old son and baby daughter were all asleep). When Duncan commits the same fouls that are called on these guys, he complains every time. This reminds me...
-If this career in basketball doesn't pan out, Duncan could always teach lessons to the Hollywood crowd on how to act surprised at their name being called during awards season with his "Who me?!? No...It..Can't..Be...Me" Face.
-The Mavs first half was a thing of beauty, more impressive because it was the Dallas Mavericks of all teams, on the road, against the Spurs in a Game 7. Scoring on 14 of their first 16 possessions and shooting nearly 77% until about 2 minutes to go in the second quarter, it was one of the best Game 7 starts I've ever seen. They were playing in a different gear than San Antonio, from the out-of-bounds plays to defense, to loose balls-that first half set the tone and gave the Mavericks the confidence they needed late in the game.
-Did anyone else see the David Hasselhoff poster in the crowd during the game? Was that a Dirk Nowitzki fan? A family member? Does this in fact prove Norm MacDonald's theory that Germans, indeed, love David Hasselhoff?
Suns-Clippers
-Just too magical to believe the Clippers could win, I guess. But it doesn't help your cause when you play differently than you did most of the series. The Clippers had gone with a smaller lineup during their wins; a lineup which could get back down the floor on made shots and defend the perimeter well. Suddenly, Chris Kaman's back logging significant minutes in Game 7. The Suns made him look like his feet were in concrete (which isn't a difficult task).
-Where do the Clippers go from here? The ultimate crossroads for a downtrodden franchise is the year after it gets over the hump. So what do the Clippers do? Does Donald Sterling pony up again this summer for a couple key free agents like he did last summer? Does Elgin Baylor keep Cassell? It is conceivable that that Baylor, in a span of about three years could go from one of the 'Worst Executives of the Year' to 'Executive of the Year' to one of the 'Worst Executives of the Year'. It all depends on the next five months.
-We'll know everything we need to know about the Suns tonight in Game 1. Nash's legs, their streaky shooting, their size difference to Dallas and if D'Antoni can match wits with Avery Johnson, because Gregg Popovich couldn't. Dallas is a much different beast than the two L.A.'s. Now is when Phoenix needs Amare Stoudamire most.
Pistons-Heat
-About two weeks ago, I wrote about how Shaq had lost the 'eye of the tiger'. While I said Shaq wasn't the dominate force he always was, he could be dominant every other game. I figured with all that rest from taking the Nets out in five games, he'd be a major force last night. But after watching the game, it's even more clear to me that Dwyane Wade, Jason Williams, Antoine Walker and Co. have to carry this team. He was slow on defense-didn't move his feet and got into foul trouble, only playing 29 minutes. This was in the face of a Pistons team that was a little tired from their seven-game series with the Cavs. If the Heat are going to win this series and the next, they need more from the Diesel in the games you can count on him at full strength (and to keep him away from guarding Detroit's high screens.)
-I am anxiously waiting another "guaransheed" win for the Pistons in Game 2. It's beyond comical.
-Still am not of the opinion that a win in the conference finals or a series win in the conference finals justifies Pat Riley booting out Stan Van Gundy. Not even winning an NBA Championship will do it. You just don't treat "friends" like that.
There, it feels better to have emptied those thoughts--ready to work on the first finalist assignment now...and pack for the move...and change the baby's diaper...
I was a witness last night. From this day forward, I'll know where I was when it happened. I just can't figure out exactly what I was a witness to.
Was it the day that LeBron James became without a doubt, the best basketball player on the planet? Or the day we saw the mighty Pistons fall, thus ending the reign of "team chemistry basketball" in the NBA?
It's both.
After James' 32 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and one block in the Cleveland Cavaliers Game 5 upset win over the Detroit Pistons at the Palace, I'm anything but innocent anymore.
I can enjoy the displays that Kobe Bryant puts on, I can still love the Los Angeles Lakers and I can still admire Dwyane Wade, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki. But I can no longer deny LeBron is far more advanced at 21 than anyone in NBA history. What I think I need most right now is to be enrolled in the 'Witness Protection Program'.
We still can't compare him to Jordan (which is almost becoming a compliment to James)-he passes like Michael never could. Nor rightfully can we call him Magic-he scores and drives and hits jumpers like Johnson never could; but we can say that LeBron James is fulfilling the prophecy.
What do we do now that we know?
Maybe we wait for his rival to emerge-like Magic, Michael and Larry had each other. Because, if we're truthful with ourselves, there's no debating James' has jumped up a level. Sure, he'll need to win some titles-but who else has or has ever had the potential since Magic to average a triple double for the entire season?
But there have only been a handful of players who see the game this way-hitting game winners, dropping precision passers for game-winners, doing all the little things and saying all the right things. James trusts his team mates, yes, but he trusts himself even more. While we complain about Kobe's two versions of selfishness, we LeBron to be more selfish.
Forget the MVP debate; it's clearly obvious to anyone who's watched the regular season and the playoffs that LeBron James is the best basketball player in the NBA. The way James understands the game is uncanny. Take his numbers in the regular season, (31.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.6 assists per game) and the playoffs as an example: against Washington, James averaged 35.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 50% from the field. He had to score more against the Wizards and Arenas because it was that kind of series. Against Detroit, LeBron has averaged 25.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 7 assists per game. With a grind it out, defensive minded Pistons team focusing on him, LeBron's numbers are extraordinary.
Last night, I was a witness to something else: perhaps the end of 'team chemistry basketball' as perfected for the past three seasons by the Detroit Pistons.
Maybe they went away from the game plan, maybe they've become to cocky and coasted for the past three months, taking every other game off, or maybe they're just a victim of LeBron James.
But what it must be like for Detroit right now, questioning everything. Lindsay Hunter taking your last good shot of the game? Missing out on the opportunity to capitalize at the end when Eric Snow throws the ball away? These aren't your older brother's Pistons. They lost three straight games to a Cleveland team that didn't even have their second best scorer. Do they even have a game plan for defending LeBron?
The Pistons, since beating the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals, have been amassing an ego not rivaled since Willie Beamen in Any Given Sunday. Detroit approached the last four months of this season like the 2004 Lakers did.
Which is why they're cooked-the Pistons became the exact opposite of what they once were.
This series has implications well beyond this year. Think of what it would to Detroit's psyche from now on. How would they react next year to facing the Cavs? In future years? By beating the Pistons now, when James and the Cavs weren't supposed to, is bigger and has greater impact than beating them in a year or two. To Rip, Sheed, Chauncey, Big Ben and Tayshaun, losing this year will be inexplicable.
What we're really witnessing is the changing landscape of the NBA. Used to be, a team would win games-individuals would entertain. But now, no longer do you need players who fit each role and get along. Start with a couple scorers (preferably one All-Star)-with speed and range on their jump shots-and surround them with role players. That's more or less what Dallas, Phoenix, Cleveland and L.A. (Lakers) have tried to do. And three of those teams are still playing-all with a 3-2 series lead.
The only thing "guaransheed" right now is that LeBron James has made 'The Leap' and the Pistons way of basketball is on the verge of extinction.
We haven't seen a player this dynamic at this age or a style shift like this since the 1980's. I was five months old when Magic made 'The Leap' in the 1980 NBA Finals. Probably still in diapers when Larry became a 'Legend' and had a short attention span, like any kid, who would rather sing the Gatorade commercials when Michael first became 'Jordan'. If I ignore this, I'm missing out of one of the biggest moments in the history of the NBA. Not many players get there, and no ones done it since the aforementioned "Big Three" did it in the 1980's. And rarely are there shifts in the formula for building a competitive team like we've seen with the Suns, Mavs and Cavs.
Until now.
I was watching when LeBron James made 'The Leap' and when the NBA shifted eras. Can I get a witness?
With the report that Larry Brown is about to become a very rich man (again) after he is eventually bought out as head coach of the New York Knicks-that's $48 million for Brown in one calendar year, for those playing at home-I tried to make sense of it all.
What would cause a man to take a job like that in the first place? At the time of his hiring, Brown had accomplished so much in his career-but was getting older and facing much uncertainty with the Knicks.
Was it really the money? Because after one season in New York, Larry Brown is limping away wounded from his "dream job". His impeccable record as a head coach is taking a hit and likewise, his ego.
After a trip to Blockbuster, I think I've got it all figured out. Brown was Al Pacino's inspiration for his part in last fall's Matthew McConaughey/Pacino vehicle Two for the Money.
The similarities between Pacino's character in the film and Larry Brown are eerily similar.
Pacino plays Walter Abrams, the head of a New York gambling organization that "advises" sports gamblers. Part of the twist is that Abrams is a recovering gambling addict who can't help but continue to get in on the action. Abrams also has some health problems that he occasionally uses to his advantage. But Pacino's biggest contribution to this movie and the role are his speeches-which are highly entertaining and fast paced rants.
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-With Dwayne Wade's acrobatic, amazing and burned into playoff lore lay-up yesterday, the Pistons are being fit for a playoff toe-tag faster than Marty McFly was when facing a possible duel with Mad Dog Tannen in Back to the Future III.
-That play was indicative of what's wrong with Detroit this post-season. Wade flipped the switch; the Heat have flipped the switch in the Eastern Conference Finals-but the Pistons have stood by and watched, mostly. Had this been 2004 or even 2005, somebody on the Pistons would have wrapped up Wade's arms and prevented the shot from being taken. Somebody would have taken him to the floor. Hard.
-Everyone says not to write off the Detroit Pistons; that they love it when their backs are firmly against the walls and the odds are worse than Pitt-Aniston reconciliation. Well, wish granted. Down 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals against a team that has had it in for you for the past twelve months is pretty bad odds. Of the last 43 teams to be down 3 games to 1 in the Conference Finals, only three have came back to win the series.
-Don't blame Flip Saunders for this-as it has been rumored that the Pistons are. (Wasn't that the rumor with this group and Rick Carlisle for awhile? And for a short time last year, Larry Brown? Maybe it's the players, after all.) For all that the Pistons are and claim to be, they sure throw their coach under the bus pretty easily. No, the "Demise of Detroit" is simple logic. Time takes its toll in the NBA, through injuries and fatigue, and there's nothing they can do about it.
In honor of the late, legendary, "That Guy" actor club, I can't help but wonder if Detroit would be fairing better under the tutelage of Paul Gleason. He could have even coached the Pistons as his character in The Breakfast Club, Principal Vernon.
Try and imagine his post game press conferences: "Mess with the bull, you get the horns." Or "I told them the next time I have to call a time-out, I'm crackin' skulls." Or simply imagine Vernon giving a pre-game speech: "You ought to spend a little more time trying to win the game and this series and a little less time worry about trying to impress people." Paul Gleason, you will be missed.
-Yes, these are the things that I think about. All. Day. Long.
-Is it me, or have the Pistons become a mini-version of the Spurs and are beginning to argue and bemoan every call that isn't in their favor?
Western Conference Finals
--If Mark Cuban can turn around the Mavericks with his money and enthusiasm, why not the Cubs?
-Sticking with the baseball thing for a second, in baseball, they always say good pitching always beats good hitting. Is that what we're seeing in the Western Conference Finals? From the Dallas Mavericks, of all teams?
The Mavs got burned in Game 1 by 32 fast-break points from Nash and the Suns up-tempo game. They preached defense and stopping the Suns in transition before Game 2. Since that time, they've allowed 25 fast-break points combined in Games 2 & 3 (and just four-4!-in Game 3). Neither team scored a 100 in the Game 3, which is always to the advantage of whoever the Suns are playing. Seems like Phoenix has have run into a wall-good defense.
-The MVP, Steve Nash, has gently called out his teammates, saying they need to show more fight and have "been a little too passive" at times. I don't think it's long before his teammates start fighting back and asking for a piece of the MVP Trophy. After all, they helped him win, and now he's calling them out?
--Hard to believe, but Raja Bell really could be the key to the series for the Suns. Say that again, slowly. Raja Bell.
-Two words (in the voice of Christopher Walken): "More Barbosa".
Back later this week with NGS II Finalist Assignment #2...
